GIFT  OF 


^  JUUt^Lj  * 

THE 
TRUST    PROBLEM 


Opinions  of  16,000  Rep- 
resentative Americans 


COLLECTED    BY 


DEPARTMENT  ON  REGULATION  OF 


i  Madison  Avenue,  New  York  City 


INDUSTRIAL  CORPORATIONS 


OP 

THE    NATIONAL    CIVIC 
FEDERATION 


THE 
TRUST    PROBLEM 


Replies  of  16,000  Representative 
Americans    to    a    Questionnaire 


SENT    OUT    BY 


DEPARTMENT  ON    REGULATION  OF 
INDUSTRIAL  CORPORATIONS 


OF 

THE     NATIONAL      CIVIC 
FEDERATION 


New  York 
February   20,    1912 


M.  B.  BROWN  PRINTING  &  BINDING  CO. 
49-57  PARK  PLACE,  NEW  YORK. 

.-icflJSSBBn  2 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Introduction    5 

Chapter  I. — Manufacturers 9 

Chapter  II. — Bankers,  Eailway  and  Insurance  Officials . .  172 

Chapter  III. — Merchants 276 

Chapter  IV. — Labor  334 

Chapter  V.— Educators,  Editors,  Publicists  and  Others..  361 

Chapter  VI. — Lawyers   428 

Chapter    VII. — Commercial,     Agricultural     and     Other 

Organizations 463 

Chapter  VIII. — Some  Extended  Discussions 474 

Appendix — 

The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law 507 

Text  of  the  Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United   States  in  the  case  of  the   Standard   Oil 

Company 508 

Text  of  the  Decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  in  the  case  of  the  American  Tobacco 

Company 558 

Eeceived  too  Late  for  Classification 591 

Index  603 


234593 


INTRODUCTORY. 


This  book  contains  or  presents  the  views  of  some  sixteen 
thousand  Americans  on  the  Sherman  Act  and  related  problems. 
The  National  Civic  Federation  sent  30,000  questionnaires, 
addressed  to  representative  men  in  all  walks  of  life — the  pro- 
fessions, finance,  organized  trades,  agriculture  and  other  forms 
of  industrial,  commercial  and  mercantile  enterprise.  Two  series 
of  questions  were  used — one  intended  for  educators,  editors, 
political  economists,  lawyers,  publicists,  statisticians,  and  the 
other  addressed  to  manufacturers,  merchants,  bankers  and  the 
officers  of  commercial,  labor  and  other  organizations.  As  intro- 
ductory to  both  questionnaires  it  is  pointed  out  that  "  the  Sher- 
man Anti-Trust  Act  has  now  been  interpreted  by  the  Supreme 
Court  to  mean,  as  to  interstate  commerce,  that  any  combina- 
tion in  restraint  of  trade,  with  the  purpose  of  controlling  prices 
and  stifling  competition,  is  unlawful.  Many  evils,  however,  that 
cannot  be  reached  under  the  Sherman  Act,  have  developed  in 
connection  with  such  combinations;  and,  at  the  same  time,  the 
advantages  of  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  are  so  great  as 
to  make  the  concentration  of  capital  essential  to  the  full  and 
efficient  development  of  modern  business.  The  problem  before 
the  country,  now,  is  to  secure  the  benefits  of  large  aggregations 
of  capital  in  business,  so  far  as  it  can  be  done  without  subject- 
ing ourselves  to  the  evils,  most  of.  them  wholly  unnecessary, 
which  have  marked  the  business  methods  of  the  last  few  years." 

Evils  usually  charged  against  large  combinations  are  enu- 
merated as  follows:  Competition  between  the  States  to  make 
laws  governing  incorporation  more  and  more  lax;  power  to 
exploit  both  the  producer  and  the  consumer,  by  depriving  them 
of  a  competitive  market,  thus  making  the  prices  of  the  raw 
material  unduly  low  and  those  of  the  finished  commodity  unduly 
high;  the  holding  company,  which  leads  to  concentration  of 
power,  sometimes  perilous,  in  a  few  hands,  and  which  conceals 
the  exercise  of  this  power  by  the  few;  unfair  methods  of  com- 
petition, as  illustrated  by  the  selling  of  goods  in  a  given  locality, 
where  a  competitor  is  operating,  at  prices  below  cost  of  produc- 
tion until  the  local  competitor  is  ruined,  and  by  the  selling  of 
one  variety  of  goods  at  less  than  cost  for  the  purpose  of  driv- 
ing from  the  field  a  rival  who  produces  chiefly  this  variety; 
restraint  of  trade,  as  illustrated  by  refusing  to  furnish  goods 
at  prevalent  trade  rates  to  merchants  who  buy  anything  from 
rival  producers,  or  who  refuse  to  maintain  list  prices,  as 
required  by  "  sellers7  agreements,"  by  control  of  sources  of  raw 


material  and  by  use  of  patents  to  protect  what  is  not  patented; 
overcapitalization;  inadequate  protection  of  minority  stockhold- 
ers and  of  subsidiary  interests,  and  exploitation  of  investors  by 
manipulation  of  stocks  and  securities;  the  checking  of  improve- 
ments in  methods  of  production,  if  monopoly  is  successfully 
assured. 

The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  are  likewise  indicated,  for  approval  or  disapproval,  as  fol- 
lows: Economies  in  production;  economies  in  distribution; 
greater  use  of  by-products;  steadier  employment  of  labor  and 
at  better  wages;  better  protection  against  industrial  accidents; 
more  command  of  international  trade;  command  of  the  best 
ability;  assurance  of  a  steady  market,  and  avoidance  of  those 
fluctuations  which,  under  old  competitive  conditions,  so  often 
brought  disaster  alike  to  employer  and  employe,  and  the  stand- 
ardization of  products,  so  that  dealer  and  ultimate  consumer 
know  exactly  what  they  are  purchasing. 

Suggestions  of  reputed  evils  and  reputed  advantages  not 
enumerated  are  asked  for,  and  a  space  is  set  apart  for  "  Gen- 
eral Remarks."  The  replies  under  this  heading  show  the 
breadth,  depth  and  earnestness  of  thought  which  the  average 
American  applies  to  great  national  issues.  Equally  interesting 
— and  equally  varied — are  replies  to  the  query  touching  the 
causes  of  business  disturbance. 

The  proposed  remedies  for  reputed  evils,  regarding  which 
opinions  are  asked,  are :  "  National  incorporation  and  Federal 
license  for  companies  doing  interstate  commerce ;  legislation 
additional  to  the  Sherman  Act,  to  prevent  the  exploitation  of 
producers  and  consumers;  laws  to  suppress  holding  companies; 
specific  statutes  to  deal  with  unfair  competition  and  restraint 
of  trade;  government  regulation  of  capitalization,  and  laws 
applying  publicity  to  commercial  corporations  through  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now 
enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to 
common  carriers."  It  is  suggested,  for  approval  or  disapproval, 
that  the  proposed  Interstate  Trade  Commission  should  have 
power  "(a)  to  permit  large  aggregations  of  capital  under  single 
control,  and  for  the  merger  from  time  to  time  of  smaller  cor- 
porations; or  (b)  to  permit  agreements  which  regulate  pro- 
duction, prices  and  the  like,  under  suitable  public  control." 

The  questions  addressed  to  "  Manufacturers,  Merchants, 
Bankers  and  the  Presidents  of  Commercial,  Labor  and  'Other 
Organizations"  are  as  follows: 

"1.  Do  you  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  inter- 
preted, is  made  clear  and  workable?  2.  Do  you  consider  it 
feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  what  are  commonly  known  as 
old  competitive  methods  in  business?  3.  Do  you  favor  a  repeal 
of  the  Sherman  Law  ?  4.  Do  you  favor  amending  the  Sherman 
Law  in  any  way?  If  so,  in  what  particulars?  5.  Should  rail- 
roads be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject 


to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Coin- 
mission?  6.  Should  trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Sherman  Act?  7.  Should  combinations  of  farmers, 
either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices, 
be  rendered  lawful  under  the  Sherman  Act?  8.  Do  you  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law?  9.  Do  you  favor  a  Federal  license 
law?  10.  Do  you  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,,  with 
powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers?  11.  In  your 
judgment  what  caused  or  causes  the  present  disturbed  business 
conditions  ?  " 

Individuals,  firms,  corporations  and  associations  are  classi- 
fied, as  near  as  may  be,  according  to  their  respective  trades, 
professions  or  other  pursuits.  The  classification  includes 
"'Manufacturers,"  "Bankers,"  "Merchants,"  "Lawyers,"  "La- 
bor," "Educators,"  "Editors."  Many  secretaries  and  other 
officers  of  boards  of  trade,  commercial  clubs,  etc.,  replied,  some- 
times in  behalf  of  their  organizations;  sometimes  with  the  ex- 
plicit statement  that  they  were  expressing  only  personal  opinions. 
In  all  instances  where  the  official  of  an  organization  added  to 
his  reply  that  he  was  not  speaking  in  behalf  of  the  organiza- 
tion, that  averment  has  been  set  forth  in  his  answer.  All  replies 
from  organizations — except  trade  unions  and  educational  asso- 
ciations— are  included  under  the  heading,  "Boards  of  Trade 
and  Other  Commercial  Bodies." 

The  financial  group  includes  not  only  bankers,  but  all  whose 
business  relates  to  finance,  such  as  insurance  and  high  railway 
officials,  who  cannot  be  classified  readily  under  any  other  head- 
ing. Under  the  heading  of  "  Educators  "  are  included  not  only 
professors,  publicists  and  economists,  but  also  civil  engineers 
and  others  whose  training  has  been  highly  educational  and  who, 
from  the  standpoint  of  scientific  achievement,  are  as  much  edu- 
cators as  the  university  president  or  the  teacher  of  a  class  in 
college. 

Leading  trade  unionists,  men  of  national  and  international 
repute,  are  represented  in  these  pages,  some  speaking  their  own 
views,  and  others  in  behalf  of  union  labor  bodies,  with  member- 
ship as  extensive  as  the  continent.  Under  the  heading,  "  Edit- 
ors," are  writers  of  metropolitan  fame  and  the  owners  of  small 
country  weeklies.  Polished  periods  and  rugged  sentences  offer 
picturesque  contrast  and  carry  perhaps  equal  conviction.  "  Law- 
yers "  are  represented  by  distinguished  members  of  the  bar  in 
leading  cities  and  less  prominent  localities — North,  South,  East 
and  West.  Their  contributions  are  well  worthy  of  study  by 
bench  and  bar,  as  well  as  laity.  "  Merchants  "  are  of  all  sorts — 
millionaire  wholesale  houses  and  cross-roads  stores;  the  former 
prompted  by  the  best  abilities  that  money  can  command;  the 
latter  interpreting  the  homely  but  forceful  debates  of  custom- 
ers and  loiterers,  such  as  Lincoln  used  to  join  in  before  he 
emerged  from  his  chrysalis  of  homespun  into  the  study  of  law. 


The  sum  of  these  replies  is  absolutely  convincing  on  two 
points — that  the  principle  embodied  in  the  Sherman  Law  is  in 
accord  with  almost  universal  popular  sentiment  and  that  the 
people  are  determined  that  "  big  business  "  shall  be  controlled 
and  regulated.  That  general  business  is  disturbed  nearly  every- 
one admits,  although  many  and  various  reasons  are  given  as  the 
causes  of  disturbance.  A  considerable  majority  of  manufactur- 
ers, merchants,  bankers,  lawyers,  educators  and  editors,  and  a 
large  proportion  of  labor  representatives  favor,  as  a  remedial 
measure,  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  com- 
merce, with  national  incorporation  as  an  alternative.  An  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  is  approved  by  a  large  percentage  of 
the  replies,  but  comparatively  few  express  themselves  in  favor 
of  control  of  prices  by  the  commission.  A  "  return  to  old  com- 
petitive methods  in  business  "  is  overwhelmingly  rejected  as  not 
feasible — practically  an  acknowledgment  that  combination  has 
come  to  stay. 

This  collection  of  signed  opinions  from  all  classes  and  every 
part  of  the  nation  is  without  precedent  or  parallel  as  an  X-ray 
exposition  of  American  thought  and  purpose  in  relation  to  the 
Sherman  Act  and  the  problems  the  Sherman  Act  was  meant  to 
grapple  with.  It  is  replete  with  information  fresh  from  the 
people  on  subjects  which  are  compelling  the  attention  of  capital 
and  labor  alike,  and  which  will  never  be  settled  until  they  are 
settled  right. 


Chapter  I. 
MANUFACTURERS. 


E.  A.  S.  Clarke,  President,  Lackawanna  Steel   Company, 
New  York  City. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  lack  of  certainty 
as  to  what  is  or  is  not  legal  under  the  Sherman  Law,  with  the 
administration  forcing  it  so  drastically.  Also  fear  of  political 
activity  and  legislation  disturbing  to  business,  including  reduc- 
tion of  tariff.  I  am  in  sympathy  with  Col.  Roosevelt's  attitude 
as  expressed  in  the  "  Outlook  "  of  November  18th  last.  I  think 
we  might  utilize  the  experience  of  European  nations  who  seem 
to  have  found  unlimited  competition  unhealthy,  and  who  permit 
reasonable  trade  agreements,  under  proper  control  and  regula- 
tion. I  do  not  fear  State  Socialism.  I  believe  in  entire  pub- 
licity, as  one  of  the  surest  methods  of  control. 

J.  B.  White,  Lumberman  and  Farmer,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Industrial  corporations  have  proved  to  be  the  fortunate  op- 
portunity to  thousands  of  men.  Look  at  them  in  every  village 
and  city,  especially  in  the  Middle  and  Eastern  States.  Hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  men  of  little  means  have  been  enabled 
to  club  together  and  unite  their  savings  in  an  industrial  cor- 
poration, where  their  money  and  labor  are  employed,  with  the 
result  that  they  have  made  and  are  making  a  financial  success 
and  own  their  own  homes. 

I  am  told  that  in  Jamestown,  N.  Y.,  where  there  are  143 
industrial  corporations,  there  are  hundreds  of  small  prosperous 
stockholders,  but  not  a  millionaire  amongst  them.  And  there 
are  thousands  of  similar  examples.  We  require  competition, 
but  not  that  kind  "with  the  red  tooth  and  the  bloody  claw/" 
We  want  co-operation,  and  not  merciless  unrestrained  competi- 
tion, where  only  the  luckiest  or  the  strongest  survive  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  weak  and  the  unfortunate.  A  living  wage  should 
be  the  first  cornerstone  of  every  industrial  enterprise. 

The  endeavor  to  create  a  condition  of  enforced  and  unre- 
strained competition,  causing  the  overproduction,  low  wages 
and  enforced  idleness  among  the  laborers,  has  caused  much 
trouble.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  or  amended  so 
that  manufacturers  may  be  able  to  legally  ascertain  the  supply 
and  demand  and  be  enabled  to  avoid  committing  waste  by  ex- 
ceeding the  demand  and  by  selling  their  products  under  the 
price  of  production. 

9 


10 

A.  B.  Farquhar,  President,  A.  B.  Farquhar  Company,  Ltd., 
York,  Pa. 

We  will  not  have  a  genuine  and  permanent  revival  in  busi- 
ness until  Congress  gives  the  President  legislation  to  carry  out 
his  wishes  in  regard  to  the  Sherman  Law  and  trust  regulation. 
We  favor  a  national  license  or  incorporation,  regulating  them 
somewhat  on  the  plan  of  national  banks  and  railroads,  not  de- 
stroying them,  as  the  present  law  requires.  Sooner  or  later  this 
will  be  done,  since  we  cannot  economically  do  the  business  of 
the  country  without  corporations  and  large  collections  of  capi- 
tal. The  corporations,  however,  should  be  regulated,  in  other 
words,  they  should  be  made  serviceable  to  the  community.  Im- 
position should  not  be  allowed.  They  should  be  encouraged,  as 
in  Germany.  The  plan  pursued  there  of  regulation  is  wise. 

It  is  not  so  much  the  high  cost  of  living  as  the  cost  of 
high  living  that  oppresses  the  people.  The  hundreds  of  millions 
of  dollars  spent  annually  in  buying  automobiles  and  running 
them  is  a  factor  in  trade  depression ;  the  vulgar  display  of  wealth 
and  extravagance  generally  is  a  leading  factor;  the  waste  of 
natural  resources,  carelessness  of  health,  and  above  all,  the 
waste  of  a  thousand  million  dollars  a  year  in  liquor  is  another. 
The  only  wonder  is  that  we  do  not  suffer  more.  We  deserve  it. 
Were  we  as  economical  as  the  people  of  France  we  would  have 
no  occasion  to  borrow  money  from  Europe  for  our  railroads 
and  other  enterprises.  We  would  have  money  to  lend  over  the 
world,  as  the  French  have.  If  Congress  were  honest  in  its  de- 
sire to  remove  all  danger  from  trusts  they  would  abolish  the 
protective  tariff,  which,  as  the  late  Mr.  Havemeyer  remarked, 
is  the  wet  nurse  of  trusts. 

S.  J.  Black,  Beaumont  Iron  Works  Company,  Beaumont, 
Texas. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  tendencies  of 
all  classes  to  want  to  live  beyond  their  income,  and  to  unrest- 
caused  by  political  agitators  and  office-holders  who  persist  in 
saving  the  dear  people  to  keep  their  fingers  from  being  busy 
with  real  honest  work.  Give  us  political  peace!  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended  so  that  the  things  a  corporation 
or  association  may  do  shall  be  known  to  them  beyond  a  reason- 
able doubt,  so  that  what  cannot  be  done  shall  also  be  made 
known  in  language  so  simple  and  plain  that  the  person  of 
average  intelligence  can  understand  it.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  We  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  but  we  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion, because  conditions  are  so  different  in  different  States 
that  such  a  commission  would  probably  prove  inefficient,  so  far 
as  accomplishing  any  real  good. 


11 

The    President    of    Lane    Cotton    Mills    Company,    New 
Orleans,  La. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  prosecution, 
or  rather  persecution,,  of  large  business  organizations  (so-called 
Trusts)  by  men  who  may  have  the  interests  of  all  the  people 
at  heart,  but  who  are  entirely  impracticable,  and  are  not  aware 
that  established  business  conditions  and  business  customs  can 
no  more  be  changed  in  a  few  days,  or  in  a  few  years,  than 
c-an  savage  and  illiterate  people  be  expected  to  live  and  prosper 
under  a  representative  government  such  as  ours. 

And  again,  about  95  per  cent,  of  all  the  newspapers  and 
periodicals  in  the  United  States  are  constantly  muckraking, 
are  constantly  agitating  the  minds  of  the  people  about  their 
imaginary  serfdom. 

If  we  believe  in  government  such  as  we  have  it,  and  not 
in  Socialism,  it  is  high  time  that  our  statesmen  and  our  news- 
papers change  their  tactics. 

Business  never  prospers  when  confidence  is  destroyed,  as 
capital  is  withdrawn,  and  every  line  of  trade  restricts  itself  to 
the  least  possible  expenditure,  and  not  only  expansion  in  busi- 
ness ceases,  but  everyone  tries  to  reduce  his  obligations. 

C.  W.  Shoemaker,  Treasurer,  The  Cumberland  Glass  Manu- 
facturing Company,  Bridgeton,  N.  J. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  a  measure,  to 
too  great  an  extension  of  credits;  ease  in  obtaining  money 
from  banks,  and  undue  credit  extensions.  These  tend  to  ex- 
travagance and  offer  temptation  to  do  a  large  business .  on  the 
other  fellow's  money.  Pay  day  comes  around  and  there  may 
])e  no  money  to  pay  with.  The  merchant  gets  pressed  and 
his  credit  impaired.  He  becomes  terribly  frightened  and  vows 
he  will  never  be  caught  owing  so  much  money  again.  He  re- 
duces stock,  curtails  his  credits,  pays  his  bills  and  thereafter 
buys  only  as  legitimate  trade  demands.  With  these  curtail- 
ments consumption  decreases  and  there  is  a  general  cry  of 
dull  times.  So  much  for  the  causes  of  disturbance.  Speak- 
ing for  ourselves  we  find  trade  improving,  but  are  proceed- 
ing cautiously  and  meeting  the  demands  and  no  more. 

W.  J.  Olcott,  President,  Oliver  Iron  Mining  Company,  Du- 
luth,  Minn. 

Present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  errors  of 
both  labor  and  capital;  the  uncertainty  as  to  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  the  Sherman  Law;  the  apparent  unfavorable  attitude 
of  government  officials  towards  large  corporations  and  their 
efforts  to  return  to  destructive  competition;  too  much  legisla- 
tion by  incompetent  representatives;  too  much  cheap  politics 
and  too  little  statesmanship;  too  little  encouragement  towards 
developing  our  great  national  industries,  and  the  uncertainty 
as  to  an  adequate  return  on  legitimate  investments. 


12 

Jeremiah  Dwyer,  President,  The  Michigan  Stove  Company, 
Detroit,  Mich. 

I  sincerely  hope  that  the  Interstate  Commerce  Committee 
of  the  United  States  Senate,  at  its  meeting  on  the  15th  inst., 
will  devise  some  wise  measure  for  removing  the  restrictions 
which  obtain  at  present  with  reference  to  business  and  corpora- 
tion regulations  that  are  proving  so  annoying  and  disastrous 
in  their  consequences.  Whether  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law 
would  be  a  move  in  the  right  direction  I  do  not  know. 

It  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  state  my  views  regarding 
what  should  be  done  any  more  clearly  than  to  cite  you  the  posi- 
tion that  Mr.  Geo.  W.  Perkins  has  taken  in  his  public  utter- 
ances of  late.  In  my  opinion,  Mr.  Perkins's  recommendations 
cover  the  situation  very  fully  and,  if  adopted,  would  bring 
about  almost  immediate  relief  of  existing  conditions. 

A  man  whose  interests  and  activities  are  centered  in  his 
daily  business  life,  knows  but  comparatively  little  in  regard  to 
the  phrasing  of  legislation  affecting  his  interests;  but  he  does 
know  and  all  business  men  at  this  time  realize  that  the  unreason- 
able restrictions  that  have  been  imposed  upon  commerce  in  this 
country  are  very  disastrous  in  their  consequences,  but  the  work- 
ing out  of  these  problems  will,  of  course,  have  to  be  left  to  men 
who  are  trained  for  work  of  that  character.  I  sincerely  hope 
that  something  will  be  done,  and  done  quickly,  to  relieve  the 
present  conditions. 

Chas.    H.    Jones,    President,     Commonwealth    Shoe    and 
•Leather  Company,  Boston. 

The  Sherman  Act  was  wisely  directed  at  an  obvious  and 
growing  evil,  but  as  no  steps  were  taken  to  enforce  it,  corpora- 
tions were  encouraged  to  take  chances  and  ignore  it.  They  could 
make  more  money  by  conducting  their  business  by  methods  in 
violation  of  its  provisions,  and  they  hoped  to  escape  the  penal- 
ties. The  acceptance  by  the  government  of  the  dissolution  plan 
proposed  by  the  American  Tobacco  Co.,  looks  as  if  they  were 
right  in  expecting  to  "  get  away  with  the  goods." 

W.  B.  Campbell,  The  Perkins-Campbell  Company,  Manu- 
facturers of  Saddlery,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  agitation  is  going  to  continue,  which 
must  affect  business,  until  the  anti-corporation,  or  rather  anti- 
trust laws,  are  decided,  as  the  best  people  of  the  country  be- 
lieve to  be  right.  I  am  not  in  sympathy  with  the  apparent 
wish  of  many  people  to  quiet  the  people  by  the  use  of  seda- 
tives instead  of  remedies.  If  combinations  are  wrong,  then  let 
us  get  rid  of  them.  If  they  are  right,  let  us  try  to  so  convince 
the  public  by  argument,  and  not  by  the  simple  statement,  "  What 
are  you  going  to  do  about  it?" 


13 

R.  S.  Crawford,  Manager,  St.  Louis  Branch,  Acme  White 
Lead  and  Color  Works,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

I  traveled  recently  over  several  States  in  the  South  and 
Southwest,  talking  with  wholesale  merchants,  manufacturers 
and  retail  merchants,  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any  one 
who  attempts  to  explain  or  understand  the  causes  of  business 
depression  throughout  this  particular  section. 

In  my  opinion,  it  is  possibly  due  to  three  causes:  the  lack 
of  confidence  in  the  present  administration  of  the  government 
in  many  details;  the  continued  investigations  and  suits  against 
large  corporations  of  various  kinds,  which  have  not  up  to  the 
present  time  produced  anything  definite  in  the  way  of  satis- 
factory results  or  benefits  to  the  average  citizen;  the  revela- 
tions that  have  been  made  in  these  investigations  of  profits  taken 
by  promoters  who  have  developed  the  corporations  which  are 
now  being  investigated.  These  conditions  come  as  something 
of  a  surprise  to  the  average  farmer  and  merchant  throughout 
the  Southwest,  and  they  are  all  waiting  to  see  what  the  final 
results  will  show.  This  causes  a  continued  hesitancy  on  the  part 
of  all  dealers  to  buy  goods  in  a  very  large  way.  A  large  part  of 
the  consuming  trade  are  fearful  of  more  or  less  financial  depres- 
sion, causing  them  to  exercise  economv  in  every  way  possible. 

John  J.  Glessner,  Vice-President,  International  Harvester 
Company,  Chicago. 

I  think  that  a  considerable  reduction  of  tariff  duties  and 
an  enforced  publicity  in  certain  directions  in  the  conduct  of 
large  corporations,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  common  law 
will  remove  and  prevent  most  of  the  evils  now  complained  of. 
These  chiefly  are  of  unfair  discrimination  fostered  by  monopo- 
listic control.  In  my  opinion,  there  can  be  no  monopoly  in  any 
business  where  the  conditions  are  such  that  any  man  may  enter 
it  if  he  desires.  The  common  law  is  sufficient  to  deal  with  un- 
fair monopoly,  and  supplemented  by  enforced  publicity  in  con- 
duct of  large  corporations,  will  be  effective  to  prevent  unjust  dis- 
criminations. Large  aggregations  of  capital  and  of  great  com- 
mercial abilities  are  necessary  to  provide  means  to  supply  our 
own  people  and  compete  with  the  outside  world,  and  all  trade 
should  be  as  free  from  restriction  by  government  as  possible. 

Pierce  Arrow  Motor  Car  Company,  Manufacturers,  Auto- 
mobiles, Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Federal  incorporation  is  desirable  if  it  will  give  companies' 
holding  Federal  charters  access  unimpeded  to  all  States  and 
State  courts  without  annual  reports  to  various  States  or  taxa- 
tion on  earnings,  etc.  Supervision  of  security  issues  to  insure 
true  values  for  the  security  of  the  public;  the  power  to  pre- 
vent oppression;  the  power  to  prevent  unnecessary  combination 
or  conspiracy;  the  power  to  prevent  unreasonable  advances  in 
prices;  these  powers  should  be  conferred  upon  a  Cabinet  officer. 


14 

E.   B.   Linsley,   Manager,   Sheffield   Car   Company,   Three 
Rivers,  Mich. 

I  certainly  feel  that  a  law  aiming  at  the  points  which  the 
Sherman  Law  was  designed  to  cover,  is  a  desirable  thing,  but 
I  am  not  prepared  to  say  whether  it  is  clear  and  workable  as 
it  is,  nor  whether  it  should  be  amended  materially.  I  feel  that 
while  there  is  something  to  be  said  on  both  sides  of  the  ques- 
tion, the  power  that  is  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men,  if  it 
is  possible  to  carry  out  combinations  as  has  been  the  case  in  the 
last  eight  or  ten  years,  is  undesirable  in  its  general  results. 

I  feel  that  if  the  authority  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission is  clearly  recognized  as  governing  such  matters,  there 
should  be  no  serious  objection  to  agreement  as  to  rates  between 
railroads. 

I  do  not  think  a  trade  union  should  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  or  any  other  act  designed  to  reg- 
ulate or  suppress  unwise  combinations,  whether  of  capital,  labor 
or  anything  else  that  affects  public  interests.  I  do  not  feel  that 
combinations  even  of  farmers,  to  hold  crops  for  higher  prices, 
are  wise,  nor  should  be  sanctioned  by  law.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law.  So  far  as  an  In- 
terstate Trade  Commission  is  concerned,  speaking  generally,  I 
should  favor  such  a  commission.  As  to  the  benefits  to  be  de- 
rived, this  would  largely  depend  upon  the  way  in  which  it  was 
carried  out. 

As  to  causes  of  the  present  disturbed  business  conditions. 
The  answer  seems  to  be  very  clear  in  that  while  crops  have 
been  good,  and  therefore  the  basis  for  good  conditions  existed, 
the  action  of  the  leading  railroads  in  endeavoring  to  support 
their  application  for  higher  freight  rates  by  the  statement  that 
they  were  unable  to  earn  sufficient  dividends  upon  their  stock 
under  existing  conditions,  started  a  movement  which  under- 
mined public  confidence  and  undoubtedly  went  very  much  far- 
ther than  they  expected.  The  public  generally  felt  that  if  the 
railroad  situation  was  so  grave  as  indicated  by  the  testimony 
of  various  officials,  their  holdings  of  stocks  and  bonds  were  not 
of  as  stable  a  nature-  as  thev  had  supposed,  and  hence  a  selling 
movement  was  inaugurated,  which  affected  first  Wall  street 
and  then  the  country  at  large,  through  various  channels  of  trade, 
which  is  easily  understood.  There  doubtless  are  other  con- 
tributing causes,  but  these  matters  certainly  had  something  to 
do  with  it. 

Wesley  M.  Oler,  President,  Knickerbocker  Ice  Company, 
New  York  City. 

Greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number  should  govern  in  all 
these  matters.  A  corporation  that  improves  quality  and  names 
prices  should  have  different  consideration  from  one  that  takes 
all  it  can  and  gives  nothing  to  the  people  in  return  for  its  cor- 
porate privileges. 


15 

W.  W.  Salmon,  President,  General  Railway  Signal  Com- 
pany, Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Many  of  the  widely  read,  cheap,  daily  papers  and  monthly 
magazines  of  the  country  have  for  years  been  publishing  articles 
misrepresenting  and  defaming  certain  of  our  great  corporate  en- 
terprises. Great  numbers  of  our  citizens  have  thus  been  led  to 
form  false  opinions  as  to  the  conduct  of  "  Big  Business  "  and  to 
entertain  feelings  of  hostility  thereto.  Ignorant,  unscrupulous 
and  ambitious  politicians,  feeling  that  they  could  promote  their 
fortunes  by  making  appeal  to  the  prejudices  of  these  misguided 
people,  have  therefore  sought  to  enact  laws  that,  while  promis- 
ing to  redress  wrongs,  real  or  imaginary,  cannot,  in  the  honest 
judgment  of  well  informed,  experienced  men,  fail  to  disas- 
trously affect  the  wages  of  workmen  and  the  legitimate  profits 
of  investors.  The  National  Civic  Federation,  all  other  repre- 
sentative bodies  and  all  individuals  who  have  a  fair  understand- 
ing of  the  situation  should  co-operate  to  bring  about  a  more 
general  knowledge  of  the  truth  regarding  the  actual  industrial 
situation,  and  to  restrain  our  political  representatives  from  fur- 
ther ill-advised,  discriminatory  legislation,  and  from  further 
strained  and  unequal  enforcement  of  existing  laws. 

William  M.  Wood,  President,  American  Woolen  Company, 
Boston,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  It  is  not 
desirable  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in  business.  I 
favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  If  it  can't  be  repealed,  then 
perhaps  a  Federal  incorporation  law,  carefully  guarded  against 
unnecessary  espionage,  might  be  desirable.  Trade  unions  should 
not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and 
combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold 
a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  rendered  lawful.  I  do 
not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions,  in  my  opinion,  are  due,  in  the  first  place,  to 
agitation  regarding  the  tariff  and,  in  the  second  place,  to  un- 
certainty of  corporations  as  to  what  is  and  what  is  not  lawful. 

A.  J.  Meier,  Manufacturer,  Liggett  Building,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Of  the  several  conditions  operating  against  the  general  busi- 
ness prosperity  of  the  country,  I  believe  the  principal  causes 
at  present  are  political  in  their  inception,  but  feel,  however, 
that  aggregations  of  capital  have  permitted  this  license,  which 
they  should  not  have  assumed.  What  we  need  more  than  any- 
thing else  is  a  National  Incorporation  Law  to  eliminate  petty 
annoyances  and  legal  requirements  of  Interstate  business,  mak- 
ing this  law  cover  service  by  registered  mail,  or  service  in  some 
equally  satisfactory  manner,  so  that  a  resident  in  any  State 
can  demand  a  hearing  in  his  own  State  in  the  Federal  Courts, 
providing  the  company  seeking  the  service  is  doing,  or  has 
done,  business  in  that  State. 


16 

H.  L.  Kramer,  Kramer,  Ind. 

The  Sherman  Act  has  been  in  existence  for  twenty  years 
and  it  don't  look  right  from  any  viewpoint  that  these  great 
industries  owned  by  tens  of  thousands  of  innocent, stockholders 
should  now  be  slaughtered  and  the  whole  business  confidence 
of  our  country  brought  to  a  stand  still  on  the  brink  of  panic 
because  a  law  is  pulled  out  of  its  musty  old  pigeon-hole  and 
used  as  a  basis  for  a  political  issue.  I  don't  hear  a  word  of  hope 
or  sympathy  for  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of  stockholders  who 
in  good  faith  have  invested  their  money  in  shares  of  the  great 
industrial  enterprises  of  this  country  that  to-day  are  threatened 
with  annihilation  by  the  Sherman  Law.  Property  is  being  de- 
stroyed. The  ordinary  everyday  business  rule  and  right  of  in- 
dividuals is  ignored,  business  customs  that  are  centuries  old 
set  aside  by  business  reformers  who  God  knows  never  had  the 
nerve  to  look  a  wood  pile  squarely  in  the  face,,  so  far  as  ever 
rendering  real  labor  in  exchange  for  a  big  round  dollar.  If 
you  go  down  the  line  and  take  the  majority  of  these  men  who 
want  to  reform  the  business  of  the  country  you  will  find  that 
very  few  ever  did  any  real  work  in  their  lives — I  mean  to  create 
an  industry,  run  a  mercantile  establishment,  a  saw  mill,  or, 
in  fact,  any  of  the  little  things  that  are  incidental  to  a  fairly 
decent  business  success.  No,  far  from  it,  but  they  can,  under 
political  necessity,  declare  that  an  unwise  law  should  be  en- 
forced, right  or  wrong,  and  they  will  keep  it  up  as  long  as  the 
85  per  cent,  yell  their  approval. 

We  had  one  panic  start  with  a  cow-boy  yell  from  the  Presi- 
dential chair  in  1907.  If  we  had  not  been  arranging  for  the 
last  two  years  for  the  shock  that  followed  the  attack  upon  the 
United  States  Steel  Company,  we  would  have  had  a  panic  that 
would  have  rattled  the  doors  of  the  United  States  Treasury 
off  their  hinges. 

I  believe  the  days  of  old  time  cut-throat  competition  are 
gone.  At  least,  I  hope  so.  If  they  ever  return,  Gold  help  the 
laboring  man. 

I  have  been  a  Eepublican  and  supported  the  party  by  work 
all  my  life — so  was  my  father  before  me — but  I  believe  in  con- 
struction, not  destruction,  and  I  further  believe  that  the  trust 
issue  can  be  settled  in  a  decent  business  kind  of  a  way  with- 
out forcing  the  country  to  take  monetary  loss  involving  bil- 
lions of  dollars,  the  destruction  of  business  confidence,  and  our 
having  to  assume  a  second  or  third  rate  position  in  the  com- 
merce of  the  world.  If  the  Eepublican  party  don't  change  its 
attitude  from  a  destructive  to  a  constructive  side,  I  will  have 
to  be  chloroformed  before  I  will  a<zairt  vote  the  Eepublican 
ticket. 

The  working  men  of  this  country  may  be  able  to  eat  some 
of  the  political  speeches  that  have  lately  emanated  from  high 
places — they  may  ho  able  to  do  it:  I  can't  use  them  for  pay- 
rolls. 


17 

J.  W.  Busiel  &  Co.  (The  Granite  Hosiery  Mills),  Laconia, 
N.  H. 

Two  things  above  all  others  are  causing  business  disturb- 
ance; the  threatened  return  to  power  of  a  government  un- 
friendly to  the  principle  of  protection  to  home  industries  and 
fear  of  an  unfriendly  attack  on  our  tariff;  the  insane  idea  that 
government  by  a  pure  democracy  is  better  than  government  by 
representatives;  that  the  mob  canMecide  more  wisely  than  the 
educated  trained  thinking  portion  of  the  community;  that  pas- 
sion is  better  able  to  govern  than  common  sense;  that  laws 
can  substitute  a  remedy  for  poor  citizenship,  for  a  diluted  smat- 
tering of  education  of  our  boys  and  for  an  electorate  diluted 
by  immigration  far  in  excess  of  our  ability  to  -absorb  as  good 
citizens. 

Modern  politics  are  moving  on  insane  lines.  The  whim 
of  the  modern  child  of  politics — pure  democracy — is  to. 
govern  instead  of  the  parents,  with  the  inevitable 
trouble  that  comes  when  the  child  rules  the  family.  The  idea 
is  abroad  that  the  people  must  have  what  they  want,  meaning 
that  any  whim  must  be  gratified.  This  threatens  all  stability 
in  business. 

Another  thing  that  is  disturbing  business  is  the  enormous 
diversion  from  business  of  capital  into  extravagant  gratifica- 
tion of  the  appetite  for  pleasure,  as  evinced  by  the  tremendous 
expenditure  for  automobiles  and  their  maintenance. 

Most  emphatically,  business  needs  peace;  laws  so  clear  that 
men  who  run  may  read;  sure  punishment  for  robbery  of  the 
people  by  dishonest  devices,  whether  of  the  corporation,  the 
lawyer,  the  politician,  the  stock  jobber, — by  all,  in  short,  who 
simply  seem  to  plan  to  get  rich  quickly  at  any  cost,  and  by 
any  dishonest  device  to  get  the  money  of  the  public. 

E.  D.  Johnston,  P.  H.  &  F.  M.  Roots  Company,  Conners- 
ville,  Ind. 

I  hope  our  next  Congress  will  either  change  the  Sherman 
Law  so  as  to  make  it  specific  and  clear,  or  give  us  a  new  Federal 
Corporation  Law  that  is  absolutely  indispensable  to  our  present 
needs,  then  create  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  similar 
powers  to  that  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  and  the 
new  laws  to  include  not  only  business  corporations,  partner- 
ships and  all  sorts  of  business  organizations,  but  all  labor  unions, 
and  thus,  once  and  for  all,  get  this  great  question  out  of  poli- 
tics, and  then  we  can  settle  down  in  peace  and  quiet  to  the 
prosecution  of  legitimate  trade.  To-day  everything  is  "up  in 
the  air,"  and  we  are  not  going  to  prosper  until  this  great  ques- 
tion is  settled.  Nobody  nor  an  organization  of  any  kind  should 
be  exempt  from  this  law.  Labor  and  capital  should  both  be 
brought  to  the  same  plane,  as  far  as  our  laws  are  concerned. 


18 

L.  P.  Rexford,  President,  American  Paper  Products  Com- 
pany, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

To  create  fair  and  equitable  competition  it  is  natural  to 
reason  that  to  produce  the  same  results  organizations,  like  the 
products,  must  be  started  and  built  from  the  same  formulas. 
Equity  in  competition  cannot  possibly  exist  where  a  corpora- 
tion organized  in  an  eastern  State  with  large  capital  is  per- 
mitted to  enter  a  western  State  and  employ  a  small  amount 
of  capital  far  below  that  actually  required  in  its  western  plant, 
and  by  making  shipments  to  the  western  plant  of  a  certain 
partly  finished  product,  taking  practically  the  raw  material 
rate  of  freight,  to  the  western  plant,  to  be  finished  in  the  west- 
ern plant  and  sold  in  the  same  market  against  the  smaller  com- 
petitor, who  is  governed  and  controlled  exclusively  by  the  west- 
ern State  law  and  subject  to  many  additional  expenses  to  that 
of  the  larger  eastern  competitor. 

I  believe  in  large  corporations  haying  branch  plants  located 
so  as  to  produce  in  the  most  economical  manner.  I  believe  this 
to  be  an  economical  fact,  but,  due  to  the  present  State  corporate 
laws,  the  above  is  taken  advantage  of  in  many  grossly  unfair 
ways.  Whether  incorporation  laws  can  be  made  to  govern  and 
control  competition  is  the  important  question,  but  it  is  certain 
that  corporate  abuses  can  be  controlled  and  should  be. 

I  believe  that  unless  we,  as  American  people,  wish  to  enter 
a  state  of  Socialism  or  government  ownership,  it  is  necessary 
for  laws  to  govern  and  control  the  corporation. 

I  believe  the  national  banking  laws  are  understood  by  the 
people  to  be  for  the  good  of  the  people,  and  if  the  same  ideas 
could  be  developed  and  govern  the  corporation,  I  think  it 
would  go  far  in  solving  the  present  commercial  conditions  and 
result  in  general  good. 

W.  A.  Garrigues,  Levering  &  Garrigues  Company,  Struc- 
tural Steel,  New  York. 

In  so  far  as  business  conditions  are  disturbed,  I  think  it  is 
largely  owing  to  political  reasons.  We  have  too  many  laws 
and  too  many  sessions  of  both  Congress  and  the  State  legisla- 
tures. It  is  very  doubtful  whether  the  Sherman  Law  is  adapted 
to  present-day  conditions,  but  we  have  gone  so  far  in  the  effort 
to  enforce  it  that  it  would  be  better  to  follow  out  for  the  pres- 
ent the  plan  of  the  present  administration  than  to  change  the 
policy  for  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  which  would  be 
sure  to  prolong  such  disturbance  as  exists. 

R.  H.  Jeffrey,  Manufacturer,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

The  popular  clamor  to  restrain  trusts  has  been  bluntly  and 
not  scientifically  acceded  to.  There  has  been  too  little  rational 
interpretation  of  la\v  as  it  affects  social  and  industrial  progress. 


19 

Nelson  E.  Harris,  President,  Rodney,  Hunt  Machine  Com- 
pany, Orange,  Mass. 

Consider  the  old  competitive  methods  sufficiently  feasible 
for  conducting  modern  business.  The  few  excessively  large 
manufacturing  concerns,  like  the  United  States  Steel  Corpora- 
tion, American  Woolen  Company,  International  Paper  Company 
and  other  large  concerns  we  might  mention,  have  not  demon- 
strated in  our  opinion  that  their  facilities  and  methods  are  of 
any  benefit  to  the  people,  but  are  positively  detrimental  to  small 
manufacturing  concerns  that  want  a  fair  share  of  the  market 
for  similar  product,  or  want  to  purchase  supplies  such  as  the 
largest  merger  corporations  manufacture.  For  instance,  we  use 
considerable  material  such  as  the  United  States  Steel  Corpora- 
tion manufacture,  but  we  avoid  dealings  with  them  because 
of  their  arbitrary  methods  and  requirements. 

Before  the  merger  of  a  large  number  of  mills  in  the  Amer- 
ican Woolen  Company  and  International  Paper  Company  we 
could  readily  sell  our  machinery  to  a  majority  of  these  mills, 
not  to  all  of  them,  because  purchasing  agents  are  notional. 

All  the  purchasing  for  these  two  combinations  of  mills  is 
now  entirely  in  the  hands  of  one  purchasing  agent  for  each 
lot  of  mills,  and  if  he  happens  to  favor  our  competitors'  ma- 
chines, we  are  entirely  "  out "  with  the  whole  lot  of  mills.  For- 
merly we  could  always  depend  on  selling  to  most  of  these  mills 
because  we  could  have  a  fair  opportunity  to  talk  directly  with 
the  mill  owner  or  agent  and  explain  the  merits  of  our  ma- 
chines. 

The  Sherman  Law  was  all  right  when  we  have  had  Presi- 
dents wise  enough  to  let  it  alone,  but  it  is  a  dangerous  law, 
as  has  been  demonstrated,  and  ought  to  be  repealed,  or  amended 
so  as  to  have  some  constructive  features. 

We  believe  a  commission  of  non-partisan  experts  might 
draft  a  bill  that  would  operate  when  enacted  into  law,  so  as 
to  control  the  present  existing  merger  corporations  witnin  rea- 
sonable and  safe  limits  for  themselves  and  the  people,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  be  sufficiently  drastic  to  prevent  more  mergers 
of  manufacturing  and  other  concerns. 

We  think  uniformity  in  a  national  law  governing  the  word- 
ing and  recording  of  a  manufacturer's  bill  of  sale  or  contract 
containing  "  Title  to  Property,"  which  would  be  absolutely  safe 
for  the  manufacturer  against  foreclosure,  mortgage  or  bonds, 
and  would  preserve  to  the  manufacturer  full  rights  for  removal 
of  the  machinery  without  recourse  to  law  in  the  event  of  non- 
oayment  by  purchaser,  would  be  of  great  benefit  to  all  manu- 
facturers of  machinery,  and  in  fairness  to  them  such  laws 
should  be  enacted. 

Chas.  E.  Brower,  Manufacturer's  Agent,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

Let  us  have  a  law  in  accordance  with  commerce,  not  a  com- 
merce in  accordance  with  law.  Let  business  be  made  honor- 
able, not  a  construed  act  of  piracy. 


20 

A.   Alexander,   National   Gum   and   Mica   Company,   New 
York  City. 

Sherman  Law  as  now  interpreted  is  not  clear  and  work- 
able. If  this  law  is  incapable  of  a  clear  interpretation,  it  should 
be  repealed,  and  a  new  law  should  be  passed  embodying  the 
principles  which  the  Sherman  Law  was  supposed  to  interpret. 
The  new  law  should  be  drawn  so  clearly  that  every  intelligent 
person  who  reads  it  can  understand  it. 

We  want  laws  which  will  enable  merchants  to  do  business 
knowing  that  their  competitors  will  not  receive  favors  from 
transportation  companies,  or  from  any  other  public  or  quasi 
public  company  or  institution.  It  is  our  opinion  that  most 
of  the  laws  on  the  statute  books  of  the  State  or  Nation  are  too 
complicated.  The  construction  of  these  laws  by  the  different 
judges  would  tend  to  show  that  the  judges  have  different  opin- 
ions as  to  what  the  laws  really  mean. 

We  ought  to  have  clearer  laws,  and  especially  when  they 
relate  to  subjects  of  importance.  Trades  unions  should  not 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  any  law.  We  cannot  see 
why  they  should  be  favored.  They  ought  to  have  a  square  deal 
and  get  the  same  treatment  as  any  other  corporate  body,  or 
body  of  people  combined,  receives. 

Farmers  ought  not  have  any  more  protection  under  our  laws 
tban  any  other  class  of  citizens,  and  we  must  have  in  mind 
that  the  farmers  have  expanded.  There  are  a  great  number 
of  farmers  who  conduct  their  business  on  business  principles, 
and  who  market  their  goods  in  the  best  markets  of  the  day, 
and  the  small  farmer  who  was,  and  is  perhaps  a  prey  to  two 
or  three  middlemen,  is  fast  nearing  his  end.  Competition  and 
advancement  is  going  on  among  farmers,  the  same  as  among 
the  merchants  and  manufacturers. 

We  favor  the  national  corporation  law.  We  do  not  know 
enough  about  the  Federal  license  law  to  give  an  opinion.  We 
do  not  favor  the  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  There  are  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  of  merchants,  where  there  are  only  hundreds 
of  common  carriers. 

Business  is  disturbed  the  world  over.    All  eatables  are  high. 

Perhaps  the  workingman  has  not  been  advanced  in  his  pro- 
portion in  some  lines  and  some  countries,  but  in  other  lines,  and 
in  some  countries,  he  may  be  getting  more  than  his  sharp.  We 
believe  that  the  purchasing  power  of  a  dollar  is  growing  less 
not  alone  here,  but  in  all  .countries,  and  we  believe  that  this 
will  continue. 

Business  conditions  in  this  country  are  always  disturbed  in 
anticipation  of  a  change  in  the  tariff,  and  now  they  are  dis- 
turbed more  than  they  should  be,  because  the  average  business 
man  has  no  confidence  in  the  administration. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  in  the  case  of  the  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, the  interpretation  by  tho  jndgps  dpsignatpd  to  decido  this 


21 

matter  meant  that  the   Supreme   Court's   decision  was  of  no 
effect. 

We  do  not  wish  to  criticize  the  judiciary  as  a  whole,  but  in 
some  cases  it  would  appear  that  they  deserve  not  alone  criticism 
but  condemnation.  People  are  reading  and  thinking,  and  they 
recognize  justice  and  injustice  a  little  clearer  than  they  did 
ten  years  ago,  and  they  perhaps  will  recognize  it  more  clearly 
ten  years  hence.  One  could  write  a  volume  on  small  matters 
which  make  up  the  business  life  of  the  average  merchant,  but 
summed  up  into  a  short  sentence — what  we  need  is  a  square 
deal  for  all.  The  more  intelligement  the  man,  the  better  should 
he  recognize  what  that  means,  and  even  those  of  inferior  educa- 
tion and  experience  can  recognize  some  of  the  unjust  actions 
of  the  authorities.  Great  business  conducted  by  aggregations 
of  capital  is  here  to  stay. 

John    G.   Dunbar,   L.L.B.,   International   Silver   Company, 
New  York. 

Certain  novel  evils  incidental  to  unprecedented  modern 
business  development  must  be  coped  with  for  the  first  time. 
The  dilemma  of  the  urgency  of  checking  such  evils  on  the  one 
side,  and  on  the  other  the  possibility  of  working  financial  disas- 
ter, is  the  problem  confronting  the  people  to-day.  Business  is 
not  greatly  disturbed  from  this  cause  alone.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  as  commerce  requires  uniformity  and  power- 
ful control  at  the  danger  points  of  illegal  advantage;  and  to 
the  above  end  I  also  favor  a  Federal  license  law.  I  would  con- 
sider it  proper  to  attempt  to  return  to  what  are  commonly 
known  as  old  competitive  methods,  if  necessary,  to  destroy 
monopoly.  I  regard  it  as  an  economic  axiom  that  the  gains 
of  monopoly  in  the  main  go  to  the  few — the  Morgans  and 
Rockefellers.  They  are  entitled  to  a  large  but  not  grossly 
inequitable  return  when  it  is  remembered  that  trust  wealth 
is  largely  the  product  of  manual  toil.  With  recent  interpreta- 
tion the  Sherman  Law  is  a  good  law  and  should  not  be  repealed 
or  changed.  Supplemental  legislation  is  preferable. 

W.  S.  Benson,  Vice-President,  Tide  Water  Oil  Company,  n 
Broadway,  New  York. 

The  constant  menace  of  new  legislation  and  government 
interference  has  caused  the  impression  that  the  government  is 
against  the  business  man,  and  this  is  made  evident  by  the  ex- 
pressed intentions  and  overt  acts  of  government  officials  in  at- 
tempts to  destroy  business.  The  arguments,  motions  and  re- 
quests on  the  part  of  the  Department  of  Justice  evince  a  desire 
in  that  department  to  destroy  every  business  interest  they  have 
prosecuted.  This  department  has  always  asked  for  extreme 
penalties  and  destructive  decrees  and  most  drastic  remedies, 
in  most  cases  far  beyond  what  the  law  would  sanction  and  far 
beyond  what  the  courts  have  ever  been  induced  to  carry  out. 


22 

Chas.  F.  Brooker,  President,  The  Coe  Brass  Manufacturing 
Company,  Ansonia,  Conn. 

It  seems  to  me  the  present  disturbed  business  conditions  are 
largely  due  to  the  tainted,  vicious,  public  sentiment  against 
people  who  have,  by  industry  and  brains  acquired  property, 
and  especially  against  corporate  aggregations  which  the  "hoi 
polloi"  have  been  educated  to  believe  were  conceived  in  sin, 
born  in  iniquity,  and  have  lived  in  unrighteousness,  and  that 
something  in  the  way  of  national  legislation  is -needed  to  cor- 
rect everything.  The  desire  of  politicians  to  retain  their  places, 
or  to  substitute  the  "outs"  for  the  "ins"  has  led  them  to 
cater  to  this  sentiment  to  such  an  extent  that  it  has  found  ex- 
pression in  the  newspapers  of  the  country,  and  to  a  very  con- 
siderable extent  has  affected  legislation  as  well  as  the  decisions 
of  the  courts.  This  has  produced  an  uneasiness  and  lack  of 
confidence  which  has,  in  turn,  resulted  in  a  halting  of  enter- 
prise and  fear  of  the  future,  which  is  always  detrimental  to 
business  and  to  progress.  People  are  afraid  of  unjust  persecu- 
tion, and  their  inability  to  determine  whether  their  business 
will  be  allowed  to  continue  on  present  lines,  or  even  to  ascer- 
tain what  course  to  pursue,  is  retarding  the  growth  of  the 
country,  and  puts  us  at  a  disadvantage  compared  with  the  rest 
of  the  world. 

John  J.  Carter,  Oil  Producer,  Titusville,  Pa. 

The  policy  of  the  Law  Department  of  the  government,  in 
its  attempt  to  enforce  the  Sherman  Act,  has  been  to  disorgan- 
ize business,  insure  agitation  and  destroy  industrial  peace.  If 
carried  on,  as  it  has  been  so  far,  with  the  prospect  of  criminal 
prosecutions,  the  integrity  of  the  business  men  of  the  United 
States  will  be  injured,  if  not  destroyed,  for  years  in  the  mar- 
kets of  the  world. 

There  is  no  way  for  honest  men  to  carry  on  the  business 
of  the  country,  through  the  instrumentality  of  corporations, 
with  any  certainty  that  their  judgment  is  right.  When  the 
courts  are  called  upon  to  say  what  is  right,  the  riddle  of  the 
Sphinx  is  given  for  an  answer.  Under  these  conditions  men 
hesitate,  enterprise  halts,  capital  hides,  and  patriotism  sickens. 

Peninsular  Portland  Cement  Company,  Jackson,  Mich. 

Government  interference  with  corporations  is  one  of  the 
principal  causes  of  business  disturbance.  I  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  all  working  under  one  general  law,  to  be 
executed  by  a  sub-committee  from  each  State,  and  to  be  called 
only  when  matters  pertaining  to  that  State  should  arise.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  either  repealed  or  amended  in  any 
particular  that  makes  it  a  misdemeanor  to  combine  capital  to 
carry  on  any  legitimate  business.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law. 


23 

John  C.  Bridgeman,  General  Manager,  Hazard  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  Wilkes  Barre,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  as  aimed  against  monopoly  is  right,  sim- 
ply embodying  in  a  new  statute  the  old  common  law  against 
monopoly.  The  Sherman  Law,  however,  is  wrong  in  making 
any  restriction  of  competition  of  necessity  a  restraint  of  trade, 
therefore  a  criminal  offense.  The  business  world  of  to-day 
cannot  be  conducted  without  some  restraint  of  competition  to 
prevent  trade  warfare  to  maintain  units  of  moderate  size  against 
greater  units,  and  to  safeguard  capital  invested  in  manufac- 
turing as  well  as  labor  employed.  In  my  judgment  some  whole- 
some restraint  of  competition  brought  about  by  reasonable  co- 
operation among  manufacturers  without  in  any  way  violating 
the  law  against  monopoly  and  with  the  least  intention  of  hold- 
ing the  people  up  in  connection  with  prices,  is  not  only  a 
necessary  thing  in  business,  but  it  tends  to  the  greatest  good 
of  the  greatest  number  in  making  manufacturing  conditions 
more  stable  and  prices  more  unvariable.  Whether  this  rea- 
sonable co-operation  I  speak  of  is  best  secured  through  National 
supervision  or  Federal  license,  or  under  the  supervision  of  a 
Labor  and  Commerce  Bureau,  I  am  free  to  say  I  don't  know. 
In  my  judgment  business  should  be  allowed  to  be  free,  and 
should  suffer  the  least  possible  interference  from  government 
control  and  supervision  as  long  as  the  law  against  monopoly 
is  not  violated.  I  understand  this  state  of  things  to  exist  in 
England.  We  are  in  a  bad  state  in  this  country  when  the 
Sherman  Law  and  the  United  States  government  make  a  crime 
of  the  entirely  reasonable  co-operation  of  manufacturers  to  safe- 
guard their  investments  and  the  labor  dependent  upon  them. 

Robert   Bentley,   President,    Carbon    Limestone   Company, 
Youngstown,  Ohio. 

The  hesitancy  in  the  minds  of  investors  caused  by  po- 
litical agitation,  making  the  future  very  uncertain  as  to  where 
companies,  both  large  and  small,  stand,  is  at  least  one  of  the 
causes  of  business  disturbance,  which  can  be  summed  up  in 
one  word — uncertainty.  I  believe,  when  the  Supreme  Court  has 
rendered  its  decisions  and  the  country  knows  on  what  basis 
and  along  what  lines  operations  can  be  carried  on,  and  when 
all  the  methods  of  reform  have  been  threshed  out,  that  business 
will  improve  and  the  country  at  large  "  nourish  like  a  green 
bay  tree." 

Samuel  Woolner,  Jr.,  Distilling  and  Distribution  of  Liquors, 
Peoria,  111. 

If  the  President  and  Congress  were  non-political,  think  a 
bill  could  be  passed  quickly,  covering  everything  and  making 
matters  clear,  as  the  questions  at  issue  are  economic,  not  po- 
Htical. 


24. 

H.  C.  Morrow,  White  Hall  Sewer  Pipe  and  Stone  Ware 
Company,  White  Hall,  111. 

The  causes  of  the  present  disturbed  business  conditions  are 
due  to  the  attacks  made  on  the  industries  and  the  fear  that  they 
will  be  prosecuted  for  violating  a  law  which  no  one  seems  to 
understand.  By  many  it  is  construed  that  manufacturers  pro- 
ducing a  like  commodity  are  not  permitted  to  co-operate  to  the 
extent  of  maintaining  a  profit  on  their  manufactured  product. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  among  the  heads  of  departments  and 
sales  managers  that  it  is  a  natural  law  that  without  co-operation 
the  manufactured  products  must  sell  at  cost  or  below;  hence  the 
impression  is  abroad  that  every  manufacturer  who  is  not  pro- 
tected by  a  patent,  or  who  is  not  by  some  means  enjoying  a 
monopoly  of  the  product  which  he  manufactures,  must  either 
be  co-operating  with  his  competitor,  in  violation  of  the  Sherman 
Act,  or  he  is  selling  his  manufactured  products  at  or  near  cost 
of  production. 

Manufacturers  producing  a  like  commodity  and  disposing 
of  same  through  salesmen  are  wholly  at  the  mercy  of  deceptive 
.buyers.  Without  co-operation  between  the  manufacturers  the 
buyer  is  often  enabled  to  beat  the  seller  down  and  by  falsifying 
the  conditions  often  get  him  to  cut  his  own  price  to  cost  or 
below.  This  is  obviated  when  the  salesman  knows  to  a  certainty 
that  his  competitor  can  make  no  lower  price  than  he,  and  by 
such  means  only  can  like  commodities  be  sold  at  a  reasonable 
profit,  unless  the  prices  are  fixed  by  the  government  or  some 
other  means. 

A  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  would  not  remedy  the  condi- 
tions, however,  for  the  reason  that  all  commodities  are  not  of 
equal  grade  or  value,  and  neither  are  business  men  of  equal  in- 
tegrity. Frequently  the  sales  manager  or  business  head  of  a 
concern  may  produce  an  inferior  product  and  he  may  be  com- 
pelled to  cut  the  price  in  order  to  dispose  of  that  product.  This 
is  often  cultivated  and  kept  up  until  this  producer  becomes  a 
professional  trickster,  and  there  is  no  such  thing  as  maintain- 
ing a  reasonable  profit  and  paying  a  reasonable  wage  within 
the  territory  in  which  he  operates  under  the  present  law.  If 
he  should  send  his  goods  to  Canada,  he  is  very  careful  to  not  cut 
the  price,  for  the  reason  if  he  should  his  goods  may  be  confis- 
cated. This  country  needs  a  similar  law,  absolutely  regulating 
the  selling  prices  of  the  commodities,  such  that  the  weak  manu- 
facturer can  dispose  of-  his  products  without  seriously  interfer- 
ing with  the  manufacturer  who  may  have  a  like  or  superior 
product,  and  yet  when  products  are  so  nearly  alike  there  can  be 
no  great  difference  in  the  market  price. 

I  have  heard  it  estimated  that  in  the  particular  line  of  indus- 
tries to  which  I  refer,  there  are  $80,000,000  invested  in  the 
business  in  the  United  States,  comprising  perhaps  200  factories, 
disposing  of  manufactured  articles  of  approximately  $80,000,000 
per  annum.  This  particular  line  of  industries  during  the  past 


25 

four  years  has  not  averaged  3  per  cent,  on  its  actual  capitaliza- 
tion, and  yet  it  is  a  commodity  that  is  almost  a  necessity. 

The  removal  of  the  Sherman  Law  would  not  altogether 
remedy  the  evil.  Congress  owes  it  to  these  industries  that  it  so 
frames  a  law  that  these  factories  can  continue  to  operate  at  a 
reasonable  profit  and  at  the  same  time  pay  a  reasonable  wage. 
As  it  is,  they  pay  wages  as  small  as  they  can,  and  would  gladly 
pay  more  if  their  earnings  would  permit. 

Charles  H.  Zehnder,  Coal  Operator  and  Iron  Manufacturer, 
New  York  City. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  too  much  yellow 
journalism  and  agitation  on  the  part  of  demagogues  who  would 
like  to  be  regarded  as  statesmen.  The  trouble  is  deep  rooted 
'and  begins  with  the  selfishness  of  human  nature.  It  is  not 
new;  we  have  had  it  in  all  ages  of  the  world.  It  began  in 
Egypt  and  later  in  Rome  and  Paris.  The  wealthy  were  not 
willing  to  allow  the  laborer  his  fair  reward.  Then  came  legis- 
lation to  make  them  give  up.  Here  the  movement  has  perhaps 
gone  too  far.  To  deal  with  any  problem  successfully  we  have 
got  first  to  be  fair.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to 
permit  under  Federal  supervision  working  agreements  between 
competitors. 

J.  H.  McMillan,  President,  Cargill  Elevator  Company,  Min- 
neapolis, Minn. 

First  cause  of  business  disturbances — defective  currency  sys- 
tem. This  precipitated  the  panic  of  1907,  and  liquidation  as 
the  effect  of  the  panic.  It  is  not  yet  complete. 

Second,  over-rjroduction — manufacturing  has  been  increased 
to  take  care  of  the  enormous  demand  during  prosperous  times 
prior  to  the  panic.  Competition  is  excessive  because  of  over- 
production. Third,  tariff  legislation — buyers  are  convinced  that 
there  will  be  another  readjustment  of  the  tariff.  This  accounts 
somewhat  for  the  lack  of  buying  power.  Fourth — the  prosecu- 
tions under  the  Sherman  Law.  Business  men  are  completely 
in  the  dark  as  to  how  they  can  legally  conduct  their  business 
on  a  basis  of  assured  profits.  Fifth — poor  crops  over  large 
areas.  Sixth — radical  tendencies  in  politics. 

A.  Henley,  President,  The  American  Cement  Plaster  Com- 
pany, Lawrence,  Kan. 

Uneasiness  in  regard  to  the  policies  now  being  urged  before 
Congress  is  a  leading  cause  of  uncertainty  and  a  detriment 
to  prosperity.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to 
have  a  commission  created  that  would  have  the  same  powers 
in  regard  to  trade  as  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
has  in  regard  to  railways.  I  am  in  favor  of  a  national  incor- 
poration law. 


26 

R.  R.  Hammond,  President,  Dering  Coal  Company,  Chicago. 

il.  A  trade  commission,  composed  of  a  suitable  number  of 
members,  to  be  appointed  by  the  President,  under  the  terms 
of  a  statute  separate  and  distinct  from  the  Sherman  Act,  pro- 
viding for  such  commission,  and  prescribing  its  powers,  which 
shall  include  the  powers  now  exercised  by  the  Bureau  of  Cor- 
porations. 

2.  The  Sherman  Act  to  be  amended  so  as  to  eliminate  the 
prohibition   of   "  restraint   of   trade "   and   substitute   therefor 
prohibition  of  agreements  or  combinations  by  either  buyers  or 
sellers,  the  purpose  or  necessary  effect  of  which  shall  be  to 
iix  or  control  prices  or  limit  output.     The  prohibition  of  mon- 
opoly or  attempted  monopoly  to  remain  as  at  present.     Agree- 
ments or  combinations  to  "stifle"  or  "strangle"  or  "throttle" 
competition  are  now  punishable  under  the  criminal  conspiracy 
acts.     There  is  no  need  for  inserting  such  matter  in  a  law 
forbidding  monopoly,  regulating  prices  or  limiting  output.     To 
forbid   by   law   one   competitor   from   underselling   another   or 
others,  would  merely  be  forbidding  competition.     That  is  what 
competition  is. 

3.  All  persons,  firms  and  corporations  to  be  subject  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  Federal  Trade  Commission  with  respect  to  any 
interstate  trade  or  commerce  carried  on  by  them.     Intra-state 
trade  or  commerce  is  referred  to  later  herein. 

4.  The  trade  commission  to  have  power  to  investigate  all 
contracts  and  combinations  which  tend  to  or  do  create  a  monopoly 
or  regulate  or  restrain  interstate  trade  or  commerce;  and  to 
make  findings  determining  whether  the  same  are  in  violation 
of  the  Sherman  Act  as  amended. 

5.  Appeals  to  be  provided  from  the  decision  of  the  Corn- 
mission  to  the  present  Commerce  Court  or  another  special  court 
created  for  the  express  purpose. 

6.  A  requirement  that  makers  of  such  contracts  or  com- 
binations shall  submit  the  same  to  the  commission ;  and  if  they 
shall  obey  an  order  of  dissolution  by  the  commission  or  by  final 
order  of  court  upon  appeal,  they  shall  be  subject  to  no  penalty 
by  reason   of  the  contract  or  combination.     This  will   insure 
publicity. 

7.  Provision  that  the  commission  may  hear  and  investi- 
gate without  complaint  from  third  parties,  and  shall  do  so  upon 
such  complaint;  but  there  shall  be  no  penalty  unless  it  shall 
be  found  that  the  defendants  intended  the  purpose  and  neces- 
sary effect  to  be  to  fix  or  control  prices  or  limit  output  or 
create  a  monopoly. 

8.  Jurisdiction  of  agreements  or  combinations  operating 
only  in  intra-state  trade  or  commerce  must  necessarily  rest  with 
the  respective  states;  and  the  state  laws  should  be  formed  so 
as  to  supplement  the  Federal  laws. 

9.  A  national  incorporation  act  is  not  essential  to  a  just 
treatment  of  this  subject;  but  it  might  be  the  means  of  better 


27 

administrative  relations  and  should  be  favored  rather  than 
opposed.  However,  it  should  be  the  subject  of  a  separate  act. 

If  it  shall  prove  practicable  to  secure  the  enactment  of  a 
really  constructive  Federal  law  upon  this  subject,  probably  it 
will  not  be  so  difficult  as  is  now  feared  to  bring  about  con- 
formity in  the  principal  industrial  and  commercial  states. 

The  business  men  of  the  country  should  be  aroused  to  enter 
at  once  upon  an  aggressive  and  persistent  campaign  to  secure 
the  modification  of  these  laws,  upon  a  basis  of  sanity,  practical 
justice  and  efficiency.  Where  the  various  lines  of  business  now 
have  organized  associations  they  should  take  this  up  as  a  special 
work.  Where  there  are  no  such  regular  organizations,  special 
ones  should  be  created  immediately  for  this  purpose.  The  co- 
operation of  national  organizations  such  as  the  Civic  Federa- 
tion and  National  Business  League  should  be  welcomed  if  prof- 
fered; but  the  work  should  not  be  left  to  them.  The  inter- 
est and  assistance  of  every  sensible  and  fair  minded  man 
should  be  enlisted. 

Hugo  Bilgram,  the  Bilgram  Machine  Works,  Philadelphia, 
Pa. 

The  one  cause  of  present  and  past  disturbances  of  business 
is  the  restriction  which  government  places  on  the  right  to 
exchange  the  products  of  labor,  by  forbidding  the  use  of  credit 
— however  sound — as  a  medium  of  exchange,  except  within 
certain  arbitrary  restrictions,  whereby  money  obtains  the  power 
to  exact  a  toll  from  the  industrial  world  through  excessively 
high  interest  rates.  Every  symptom  of  the  industrial  disorder 
points  to  an  inadequacy  of  the  volume  of  sound  currency  and 
an  increased  issue,  similar  to  national  bank  notes,  redeemable 
in  gold  and  amply  secured  by  wealth;  limited  in  quantity  only 
by  the  amount  of  security  offered,  and  at  a  tax  that  is  but  little 
more  than  an  insurance  against  a  possible  depreciation  of  some 
of  the  security,  will  effectively  put  a  stop  to  all  the  abuses  of 
wealth  which  neither  the  Sherman  Law  nor  other  half-way 
measures  can  remedy. 

Geo.  D.  Barnard,  Manufacturing  Stationer,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  consider  that  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  would  be  an  improvement  over 
present  conditions.  In  my  judgment,  disturbed  business  condi- 
tions are  due  to  the  Sherman  Act  and  newspapers  magnifying 
— and  many  times,  in  my  judgment,  lying — trying  to  set  one 
class  of  people  against  another — because  the  managers  often 
think  they  are  increasing  the  circulation  of  their  papers  in  order 
to  get  more  advertising  patronage.  And  the  hypocrites  don't 
care  if  any  man  goes  to  the  wall  if  they  only  gain  by  it.  I  em- 
ploy over  five  hundred  people,  all  in  unions,  and  who  have  the 
right  under  State  laws  to  combine,  while  if  I  should  do  the 
same,  I  would  go  to  jail.  Tough,  isn't  it? 


28 

Patrick  Cudahy,  Cudahy  Brothers  Company,  Packers,  Mil- 
waukee, Wis. 

To  begin  with,  as  everybody  knows,  the  harm  was  done  when 
the  trusts  were  allowed  to  form.  If  the  leaders  or  promoters 
of  those  trusts,  when  they  went  about  a  few  years  ago  coercing, 
intimidating  and  tyrannizing  over  their  weaker  competitors, 
thereby  forcing  unwilling  men  into  combinations,  were  dealt 
with  by  the  government  and  punished  as  they  should  have 
been,  we  would  not  now  be  struggling  with  the  trust  question, 
for  I  believe  the  government  had  the  Sherman  Law  then  as  a 
weapon  the  same  as  it  has  to-day,  and  I  believe  some  of  the 
men  who  are  making  a  lot  of  noise  now  were  in  office  then. 
An  ounce  of  preventative  in  this  case  would  have  been  worth 
a  great  many  pounds  of  cure,  but  now  that  the  trusts  are  in 
existence  the  only  thing  to  do  is  to  compel  them  to  be  law- 
abiding  trusts,  for,  in  my  way  of  thinking,  it  is  impossible  to 
break  them  up  in  any  kind  of  a  way  that  will  insure  old  time 
competition,  for  no  matter  how  many  parts  you  may  make  of 
a  trust,  it  will  remain  a  trust  just  the  same. 

I  think  that  if  the  government  will  see  to  it  that  the  in- 
dependent concerns  are  allowed  an  equal  chance  in  the  open 
market  to  buy  their  raw  material  and  sell  their  goods  in  com- 
petition with  the  trusts,  the  matter  will  adjust  itself  in  time. 

There  are  plenty  of  bright  young  business  men  coming  up 
every  day,  who,  if  given  a  fair  chance,  can  cut  the  ground  from 
under  any  trust,  and,  as  I  have  said,  if  they  are  properly  pro- 
tected they  will  prove  a  better  trust  buster  than  the  Attorney 
General  with  all  his  force  of  lawyers. 


W.  W.  Case,  Branch  Manager,  Anderson  Electric  Car  Com- 
pany, Detroit,  Mich. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. The  railroads  should  most  decidedly  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  We  need  prosperous  roads.  The  present 
disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  uncertain  element 
in  politics.  This  upsets  the  country  every  four  years.  We 
should  have  a  ten-year  term  for  president,  subject,  if  possible, 
to  a  recall  if  policies  are  distinctly  dangerous  to  the  country.  The 
national  government  should  issue  all  articles  of  incorporation 
of  $500,000  and  up,  so  that  all  big  businesses  could  be  under 
its  supervision.  One  trouble  with  corporations  is  due  to  a  State 
issuing  charters  which  permit  the  corporation  to  do  business 
throughout  the  union  with  no  restrictions.  It  is  radically  wrong 
for  a  State  to  usurp  such  power.  Hence  my  statement  that 
the  national  government  should  be  responsible  for  and  control 
big  corporations.  Let  the  States  issue  charters  for  under 
$500,000  for  intrastate  business. 


29 

E.  W.  Hake,  Vice-President,  The  Monitor  Stove  and  Range 
Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

To  my  mind,  one  of  the  greatest  causes  of.  our  present  dis- 
turbed business  conditions,  is  the  unsatisfactory  condition  un- 
der which  the  labor  organizations  are  now  operated.  No  man- 
ufacturer is  exempt  from  the  radical  influences  of  labor  organ- 
izations, and  the  walking  delegate,  and  until  labor  organiza- 
tions are  managed  upon  a  different  basis,  which  will  permit  the 
skilled  mechanic  to  obtain  higher  wages  than  the  .unskilled 
mechanic — just  so  long  will  conditions  continue  to  be  disturbed 
in  the  manufacturing  world. 

A  vast  amount  of  matter  has  been  written  and  said  in  re- 
gard to  the  high  cost  of  living.  One  of  plain  factors  in  the 
increased  cost  of  every  product  that  is  made  or  consumed,  is 
the  increased  demand  (which  has  covered  a  period  of  the  last 
twelve  years),  of  the  number  of  labor  organizations  for  their 
service.  Some  one  must  pay  this  increased  wage  which  they 
earn,  and  it  has  had  a  tendency  to  increase  the  price  of  all 
products  in  every  line  of  business.  No  manufacturer  or  con- 
tractor is  able  to  take  on  a  large  contract  and  feel  sure  that, 
at  the  end  of  six  or  twelve  months,  labor  conditions  will  be 
such  that  he  will  not  have  to  pay  more  wages  to  such  mechanics 
as  may  be  required  to  do  the  work  for  which  he  has  made  an 
agreement  to  make  or  produce. 

Does  this  not  in  itself  lead  to  disturbed  business  condi- 
tions? 

Charles  J.  Lynn,  General  Manager,  Eli  Lilly  &  Co.,  Phar- 
maceutical Chemists,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

The  fear  aroused  in  the  minds  of  honest  business  men  fol- 
lowing the  attempts  to  punish  dishonest  men  under  a  law  whose 
meaning  is  not  clear,  and  which  might  be  construed  in  a  way 
to  punish  men  of  honorable  motives  engaged  in  conducting 
large,  honest  enterprises,  has,  in  my  judgment,  caused  the  exist- 
ing disturbance  in  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  so  as  to  definitely  define  what  constitutes  restraint  of 
trade,  keeping  in  mind  the  fact  that  large  combinations  of  capi- 
tal are  a  necessity,  and  simply  a  result  of  modern  demands  and 
conditions.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license, 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

The  Hamilton  Manufacturing  Company,  Two  Rivers,  Wis. 

Uncertainty  as  to  action  by  the  government  and  as  to  the 
opinions  that  have  been  or  may  be  delivered  by  the  courts  in 
regard  to  the  laws  bearing  upon  business  interests,  are  the  chief 
causes  of  any  uneasiness  that  now  exists.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  to  meet  the  requirements  of  business.  Some 
action  is  undoubtedly  required  to  protect  the  public  against 
wild  cat  corporations  organized  to  fleece  the  people,  and  a 
national  incorporation  law  might  possibly  answer  that;  purpose. 


30 

W.  L.  Ratcliffe,  Thomas  G.  Plant  Company,  Shoe  Manu- 
facturers, Boston,  Mass. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  real  meaning  of  the  Sherman  Law, 
the  fact  that  many  of  our  best  informed  men  are  divided  in 
their  opinion  as  to  its  real  meaning  and  application,  as  they 
realize  that  if  construed  literally,  it  would  put  back  our  prog- 
ress for  years;  and  the  added  fact  that  the  present  adminis- 
tration seems  to  be  playing  politics  with  our  industries,  offer- 
ing no  suggestions  for  improvement  along  constructive  lines — 
demonstrating  how  little  they  apparently  know  about  real  busi- 
ness conditions,  and  proceeding  on  the  theory  that  old-time 
competition  can  be  restored,  when,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  old- 
time  competition  is  impossible,  forgetting  that  it  is  not  al- 
ways what  you  do,  but  the  manner  in  which  you  do  it.  To 
these  conditions  and  to  tariff  agitation,  which  should  be  settled 
as  soon  as  possible,  business  disturbances  are  due. 

If  we  are  going  to  broaden  out  and  go  ahead,  and  hold 
our  proper  place  in  the  world's  markets  and  trade,  it  is  only 
possible  to  do  so  through  the  means  of  modern  corporate  form 
of  doing  business. 

If  the  results  in  the  recent  decision  in  the  Tobacco  Trust 
are  all  that  can  be  accomplished,  it  apparently  has  not  been 
worth  the  effort.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  along 
the  lines  and  from  the  viewpoint  of  twentieth-century  methods, 
not  nineteenth. 

Being  a  Republican,  I  feel  I  am  entitled  to  say  the  above. 

William  A.   Rogers,  Iron  Manufacturer,  Tonawanda  Iron 
and  Steel  Company,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

The  less  government  interferes  with  business  the  better.  An 
Interstate  Commission  is  only  suitable  for  dealing  with  public 
service  corporations  and  natural  monopolies. 

Politics.  Both  parties  have  been  trying  to  outdo  each  other 
in  playing  to  the  "galleries"  of  the  shallow  thinking  people 
who  in  large  numbers  have  been  led  afield  bv  demaofo^ues  and 
cranks.  ;</ '"  *!*»"» 

The  class  of  men  we  elect  to  represent  us  in  Congress  are 
not  fitted  to  deal  with  the  problems  appertaining  to  the  large 
business  interests  of  this  country. 

Nor  dyke  &  Marmon  Company,  Founders  and  Machinists, 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

The  present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  the  outgrowth 
of  the  panic  of  1907,  which  was  brought  about  by  the  usual 
cause,  namely,  inflation.  Whatever  may  be  the  cause  of  panics, 
there  is  but  one  known  cure — that  is  to  say,  liquidation.  We 
can  never  completely  recover  from  the  panic  of  1907  until  we 
have  more  complete  liquidation  than  has  yet  taken  place.  Two 
notable  items  which  have  not  liquidated  sufficiently  are  steel 
and  labor.  Other  material  items  need  more  liquidation,  but 
not  so  much  as  those  mentioned. 


31 

H.  J.  Wade,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  United  States  Wind 
Engine  and  Pump  Company,  Batavia,  111. 

People  who  have  been  disobeying  or  evading  the  laws  of 
the  country  have  suddenly  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  the 
laws  are  made  for  all  of  us,  and  they  are  very  much  disturbed 
about  it.  I  think  we  are  all  more  scared  than  hurt,  and  the 
best  thing  we  can  do  is  to  obey  the  laws  and  be  good  citizens. 
The  interpretation  of  the  Sherman  Law  by  the  Supreme  Court 
is,  I  think,  all  right.  A  law  based  on  that  idea  is  a  necessity, 
but  I  do  not  feel  competent  to  say  that  in  all  its  provision  it 
is  "  clear  and  workable."  The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be 
repealed,  unless  some  good,  strong  law  embodying  the  same 
underlying  idea  is  substituted.  Trade  unions  and  combinations 
of  farmers  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  Sherman  Act.  I 
believe  that  a  combination  of  farmers  to  restrict  production 
or  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices  is  the  most  vicious  form  of 
combination.  It  is  the  most  direct  form  of  keeping  the  bread 
from  the  hungry.  I  favor  a  national  incororation  law,  if  it 
will  put  a  stop  to  the  various  States  trying  to  hold  us  up  when 
we  do  business  with  the  residents  in  their  particular  State. 

W.  B.  Dennis,  Vice-President  and  Manager,  Carlton  and 
Coast  R.  R.  Company;  Secretary-Treasurer,  Carlton 
Consolidated  Lumber  Company,  Carlton,  Ore. 

In  my  judgment  no  laws  passed  by  the  Federal  government 
will  be  entirely  efficient,  unless  harmonious  laws  are  passed  by 
each  State.  State  laws  governing  corporations  doing  interstate 
business  should  be  uniform  throughout  the  United  States.  In 
my  judgment  this  could  be  brought  about  if  a  campaign  were 
properly  organized  and  conducted  for  that  purpose.  With  uni- 
form State  laws  the  "  trusts  "  could  then  conduct  their  business 
under  one  incorporation,  instead  of  a  combination  of  subsidiary 
separate  State  corporations.  This  would  remove  a  big  part  of 
the  "  sting "  of  the  so-called  "  trust "  from  the  minds  of  the 
people,  as  well  as  remove  other  objections.  The  business  of  the 
trusts  in  the  various  States  would  then  be  conducted  as  "de- 
partments," on  the  plan  of  the  big  department  stores  of  our 
cities,  all  under  one  name  and  one  corporation.  I  favor  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Philip  S.  Tuley,  President  and  Treasurer,  Louisville  Cotton 
Mills,  Louisville,  Ky. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  largely  due  to  excessive 
prolongation  of  excessive  tariff.  It  should  have  been  reduced 
to  reasonable  levels  long  ago.  We  believe  in  the  continuance  of 
reasonable  protection,  but  not  in  useless  favoritism.  Then,  too, 
extravagance  of  living  is  responsible  for  present  depression. 
Restriction  of  production  by  labor  unions  and  their  unreason- 
able demands  are  also  contributory. 


32 

Herman  Ellis,  President,  The  Wilson  Distilling  Company, 
New  York. 

The  technical  enforcement  of  the  Sherman  Law  for  political 
ends  is  responsible  for  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  to  give  it  a  broader,  less  technical  construc- 
tion. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  Federal  license. 

Thomas  A.  Kirkham,  Berkshire  Fertilizer  Company,  Bridge- 
port, Conn. 

Farmers  should,  of  course,  be  permitted  to  hold  their  crops 
for  higher  prices,  and  railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  approval  by  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission. 

R.   B.   Lowe    (Parkhill  Manufacturing   Company),   Cotton 
Manufacturers,  Fitchburg,  Mass. 

Make  the  Sherman  Law  clear.  The  present  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions  are  due  to  selfishness.  Some  big  corporations 
went  too  far.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal 
license  law,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

A.    M.    Chaffee,   President,   Chaffee   Bros.    Company,   Box 
Manufacturers,  etc.,  Oxford,  Mass. 

Lack  of  confidence  and  a  need  to  be  let  alone  is  causing 
the  trouble  with  business.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law,  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

D.   Woodward,   President,  Woodward   Lumber   Company, 
Atlanta,  Ga. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment 
of  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

C.  L.  Hunter,  Hampden  Watch  Company,  Canton,  Ohio. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  the  enactment  of  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  the  creation  of  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates. 

M.  Cochrane  Armour,  President,  Iroquois  Iron  Company, 
Chicago,  111. 

The  government  attitude  toward  large  interests  is  all 
wrong.  Such  are  here  to  stay,  but  should  be  suitably  restricted. 
While  we  are  at  it,  let  us  change  our  banking  laws. 

The  Harter  Milling  Company,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable,  and  I  regard  a 
return  to  old  competitive  methods  as  feasible.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  Federal  license. 


33 

Charles   Pfaff,    President,    Massachusetts   Breweries    Com- 
pany, Boston,  Mass. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  believe  that  the 
intemperate  enforcement  of  that  law  is  a  disturbing  factor  in 
business.  We  ought  to  have  a  national  incorporation  law. 

Taft-Peirce  Manufacturing  Company,  Machinery  Manufac- 
turers, Woonsocket,  R.  I. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  unwarranted  at- 
tacks by  the  Attorney-General  on  corporations,  and  playing 
politics. 

George  G.  Coffin,  Manager,  Lalance  &  Grosjean  Manufac- 
turing Company,  Boston,  Mass. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  the  enactment  of  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law.  Disturbed 
business  conditions  are  due  to  political  agitation. 

G.  L.  Becker,  President,  Becker  Brewing  and  Malting  Com- 
pany, Ogden,  Utah. 

Too  much  investigation  and  agitation  are  troubling  busi- 
ness. We  ought  to  have  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Fed- 
eral license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

C.  Arthur  Dunlavy,  Manager,  Broderick  &  Bascom  Rope 
Company,  New  York. 

Fear  and  uncertainty  brought  about  by  apprehension  of 
drastic  and  unreasonable  application  of  the  Sherman  Law  are 
the  trouble  with  business. 

H.   Fellowes    (Springfield  Wagon  Company),   Springfield, 
Mo. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  am  opposed  to 
allowing  railways  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

Norman    Carmichael,    Arizona    Copper    Company,    Clifton, 
Ariz. 

The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  amended  in  such  a  way  as 
to  regulate  competition  for  the  protection  of  both  producer  and 
consumer. 

Charles   A.   Howard,   President,   Aberdeen   Gas   Company, 
Aberdeen,  S.  D. 

Principally  rampant  demagogism  is  responsible  for  business 
anxiety.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

H.  Clay  Evans,  Manufacturer,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

Unrest  is  due  to  labor  agitation  by  labor  agitators  who  seek 
by  combination  to  destroy  the  capital  that  employs  them. 


34 

The  National  Lime  and  Stone  Company,  Carey,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed  and  a  national  in- 
corporation law  enacted  in  its  place.  Too  much  agitation 
against  trusts  and  combinations  is  the  cause  of  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions. 

Illinois  Brick  Company,  Chicago,  111. 

Political  agitation  principally  is  responsible  for  disturbed 
business  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed 
and  a  national  incorporation  law  enacted,  along  with  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

The  Farist  Steel  Company,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

We  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  .Railroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Political  agitation  is 
causing  whatever  disturbance  there  is  in  business. 

Marshall  Oil  Company,  Marshalltown,  Iowa. 

Agitation  against  capital  is  the  cause  of  disturbance  in 
business.  We  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  the  enact- 
ment of  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  the  creation  of  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.  A.  Lamy  Manufacturing  Company,  Sedalia,  Mo. 

The  lack  of  a  strong,  positive,  quick  acting  administration 
is  the  chief  cause  of  any  business  disturbance  now  existing. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  all  can  under- 
stand it,  or  else  it  should  be  repealed. 

G.  Bartol,  Otis  Steel  Company,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Substitute  for  the  Sherman  Law  a  law  for  supervision  and 
regulation.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. 

W.  H.  Luden,  Manufacturing  Confectioner,  Reading,  Pa. 

Dishonesty  in  business  is  the  chief  cause  of  any  trouble  in 
business.  The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

C.  C.  Rounseville,  Treasurer,  Shove  Mills,  Fall  River,  Mass. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  which  has  not  been 
made  either  clear  or  workable.  Trade  unions  and  combinations 
of  farmers  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  Sherman  Act. 

Pankow  Bros.,  Foundry  and  Machine  Works,  Sioux  Falls, 
S.  D. 

Too  much  trusts  and  too  much  labor  unions. 


36 

Headley  &  Farmer  Company,  Trunk,  etc.,  Manufacturers, 
Newark,  N.  J. 

Political  agitation  against  corporations,  with  the  Sherman  - 
Law  as  a  club,  is  hurting  business.  We  favor  a  national  in- 
corporation law  and  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law. 

C.    W.    Parker,    Manufacturer    of    Amusement    Devices, 
Leavenworth,  Kan. 

Present  conditions  are  due  partly  to  an  unnecessarily  high 
protective  tariff  and  partly  to  the  warfare  being  waged  against 
organized  capital.  Crop  conditions  also  have  had  some  effect. 

F.    A.   Brainerd,    Treasurer,   Rendrock   Powder   Company, 
New  York  City. 

What  caused  or  causes  the  present  disturbed  business  con- 
ditions? Yellow  journalism. 

Standard  Lumber  Company,  Manufacturers,   Yellow  Pine 
Lumber,  Alton,  Fla. 

Political  demagogy.  Business  retrenchment  naturally  fol- 
lowing, and  which  will  continue  until  the  final  action  is  taken 
and  decision  made. 

A.  F.  Houston,  President,  Lukens'  Iron  and  Steel  Company, 
Coatesville,  Pa. 

Incessant  agitation  started  prior  to  1908  by  the  President 
then  in  office  is  responsible  for  business  disturbance. 

E.  W.  Handlan  (Handlan-Buck  Manufacturing  Company), 
St.   Louis,  Mo. 

Less  laws  but  what  we  have  enforced  on  everybody  and 
everything,  or  have  them  cancelled.  We  want  a  business  ad- 
ministration and  not  one  conducted  for  politics  and  lawyers. 

L.  D.  Kellogg,  President,  Kellogg  Switchboard  and  Supply 
Company,  Chicago,  111. 

The  present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  bad 
conscience  of  some  heavily  watered  combinations,  to  crops,  Wall 
street,  and  probably  some  over-production  holding  on  since  1907. 

I.  B.  Williams  &  Sons,  Leather  Belting,  etc.,  Dover,  N.  H. 

We  favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment 
of  a  national  incorporation  law.  The  Sherman  Law  and  po- 
litical agitation  do  more  than  anything  else  to  hamper  business. 

L.  B.  Darling  Fertilizer  Company,  per  Manager,  Pawtucket, 
R.  I. 

Trade  unions  may  do  more  damage  than  any  of  the  so-called 
trusts. 


J.  G.  Woodruff,  President,  W.  L.  Gilbert  Clock  Company, 
Winsted,  Conn. 

In  the  main  we  do  not  believe  in  tinkering  the  Sherman 
Law  in  any  important  point.  I  fear  that  to  do  so  would  harm 
rather  than  improve  it.  There  is  no  room  for  old-time  method 
of  competition.  The  efficiency  management  of  business  hns 
come  to  stay.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  no 
important  part,  except  that  perhaps  the  matter  of  reasonable- 
ness might  be  injected  to  advantage;  also  the  safeguarding  of 
every  man  and  party  equally — for  instance,  the  right  of  injunc- 
tion should  apply  fairly  to  all  alike,  whether  it  be  as  to  a  labor 
strike  or  anything  else.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  arrange 
their  rates  for  profit  but  not  extortion;  being  public  corpora- 
tions, they  should  be  amenable  to  the  authority  that  gives  them 
the  right  of  way.  Trade  unions  should  have  no  exception  from 
the  Sherman  Act.  They  compose  a  small  percentage  of  the 
laboring  men  of  the  country.  Why  should  they  be  entitled  to 
privileges  denied  to  others?  Xo,  they  are  the  biggest  kind  of 
trusts  and  should  be  regulated.  Farmers  should  not  be  allowed 
to  combine  either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for 
higher  prices.  Anything  that  is  a  restriction  of  trade  is  wrong ; 
but  here  the  question  of  reasonableness  comes  in.  No  indi- 
vidual should  be  compelled  to  sell  his  wheat  or  cotton  until 
he  elects  to  do  so.  The  formation  of  pools  or  trusts  by  moneyed 
men  is  where  the  trouble  comes  in.  The  cold  storage  is  another 
matter  that  needs  the  injection  of  reasonableness  to  a  large 
extent.  Uncertainty  as  to  tariff  legislation  and  as  to  what  the 
government  will  do  in  the  enforcement  of  laws  bearing  upon 
business ;  the  unreasonableness  of  labor's  demand,  and  the  tend- 
ency to  speculate  with  other  people's  money,  are  all  of  them 
causes  of  business  disturbance. 

I  think  the  Canadian  Reciprocity  Act  was  wrong,  and  T' 
am  glad  it  failed,  although  in  favor  of  it  at  first.  The  matter 
of  free  pulp  and  paper  is  all  wrong  and  should  be  cut  out. 
Note  the  demands  of  many  foreign  countries  for  a  share  in  the 
free  admission  of  those  articles.  This  could  have  been  fore- 
seen easily,  in  our  opinion.  A  general  cutting  down  of  the  tarilT 
will  lay  this  country  flat,  as  it  was  in  1893  to  1896.  A  reason- 
able correction  of  some  schedules  might  be  well. 

E.   H.   Archibald,   Treasurer,   Archibald   Wheel   Company, 
Lawrence,  Mass. 

Fear  resulting  from  the  Sherman  Act  is  the  cause  of  busi- 
ness disturbance.  I  believe  in  a  restriction  of  trusts  and  regula- 
tion of  all  corporations,  but  I  want  a  fair  law  and  that  law 
fully  understood.  I  see  no  reason  why  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  could  not  be  carried  out.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 


37 

J.  L.  Mauldin,  President  and  Treasurer,  Cleveland  Armature 
Works,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  concentration  of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  few  is  re- 
sponsible for  disturbed  business  conditions.  There  are  a  few 
men  whose  combined  wealth  enables  them  to  bring  forth  a  panic 
or  prosperity  at  will. 

The  Sherman  Law  seems  to  have  the  power  to  disintegrate 
the  trusts,  but  apparently  it  does  not  prevent  the  congealing 
together  of  the  parts  into  a  stronger  union  than  that  which 
before  existed.  Competition  is  the  life  of  trade,  and  I  believe 
in  competition.  The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed 
until  something  better  is  put  in  its  place.  A  small  switch  is 
better  than  nothing.  It  should  be  amended  in  such  a  way 
as  to  have  not  only  the  power  of  attacking  the  trust  or  ob- 
jectionable corporation,  and  causing  them  to  dissolve,  but 
should  have  the  power  of  dissolving  them  so  that  they  cannot 
patch  up  the  pieces. 

liailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  The 
Interstate  Commerce  Commissioners  are  the  people's  represen- 
tatives and  should  be  able  to  control  railroad  freight  agree- 
ments, so  as  properly  to  protect  the  interests  of  us  all.  Trade 
unions  should  not  be  excepted  from- the  operation  of  the  Sher- 
man Act  when  the  union  in  any  way  affects  the  employer  in 
the  operation  of  his  business.  If  for  purposes  social  or  educa- 
tional, it  should  be  excepted.  Farmers  should  be  permitted 
to  combine  to  restrict  production  or  hold  a  crop  for  higher 
prices,  if  they  are  forced  to  form  such  combinations  in  order 
to  protect  themselves  from  the  vultures  which  infest  the  market 
places,  and  whose  object  is  to  force  the  farmer  to  sell  his 
products  below  the  cost  of  production.  If  the  vultures  are 
driven  out,  there  should  be  no  further  need  for  such  combina- 
tion. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Such  a  commission 
should  have  the  power  to  prevent  capital,  or  combinations  of 
capital,  from  closing  the  avenues  for  conducting  business  to 
those  who  possess  less  capital. 

Milburn  Wagon  Company,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

We  believe  the  energies  of  the  President  and  government 
officials  should  be  used  in  drafting  and  passing  a  better  law 
than  the  Sherman  Law  rather  than  persecuting  capital  by  en- 
forcing the  unjust  Sherman  Law,  and  that  the  new  law  should 
positively  control  organizations  of  labor  as  well  as  capital.  Tho 
new  law  should  allow  the  consolidation  of  capital  for  economic 
purposes,  with  restrictions  and  regulations  as  to  competition. 
The  Federal  incorporation  law  should  take  away  from  States 
the  powers  which  they  now  have  to  harass  and  overtax  foreign 
corporations. 


38 

Connellsville  Central  Coke  Company,  Coke  Manufacturers, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Amendments  to  the  Sherman  Law  should  depend  on  how 
the  Tobacco  and  Oil  decisions  work  out.  We  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  but  not  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

The  excessive  high  cost  level  of  all  materials  and  bad  finan- 
cial practices  made  a  readjustment  imperative.  It  is  the  dis- 
satisfaction caused  by  the  effects  of  this  readjustment  that  is 
affecting  business  men's  minds  to-day,  and  this  condition  will 
not  be  cured  until  the  consumptive  capacity  of  the  country  is 
shown  to  be  equal  to  the  producing  capacity,  when  employment 
can  be  given  to  the  laboring  man  now  out  of  employment  and 
the  manufacturing  interests  receive  an  adequate  return  on  their 
investment.  We  think  that  railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission,  and  that  trade  unions  should  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 

Livingston  Fargo,  Iron  Ore  Mines,  New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  sufficiently  clear;  but  it  is  not  ap- 
plicable to  present  understanding  of  business,  and  should  ^be 
repealed.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Law,  spiritual  or  ultimate,  is  a  statement  of  fact.  Human 
law  is  an  effort  to  fix  by  rule  the  understanding  of  principle 
and  its  usage.  Understanding  or  consciousness  is  progressive. 
Human  law  must,  therefore,  be  adjusted  from  time  to  time,  to 
change  consciousness  or  understanding.  The  Sherman  Law 
does  not  express  the  new  understanding  of  the  principle  which 
underlies  so-called  business.  Being  unexpressed,  there  is  dis- 
cord between  the  fact  and  the  rule,  which  obviously  makes  the 
disturbance  in  business  as  such.  Competition  is  without  prin- 
ciple. Principle  is  expressed  in  co-operation. 

The  Van  Brunt  Manufacturing  Company,  Manufacturers 
of  Grain  Drills,  F.  H.  Clausen,  Attorney,  Horicon, 
Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  make  the 
criminal  provisions  more  effective  and  to  compel  the  govern- 
ment to  proceed  criminally  against  officers  or  corporations  found 
"  unreasonable."  Disintegration  in  name  only  is  none  at  all. 
(See  Northern  Securities  Co.)  Disturbed  business  conditions 
are  due  to  selfish  and  unfair  methods  of  both  Radicals  and  Con- 
servatives. Radicals  assume  that  anything  corporations  favor 
is  wrong,  and  Conservatives  assume  that  any  opposition  to  their 
plan  arises  from  a  motive  to  destroy.  When  matters  are  ad- 
justed on  a  basis  of  full  rights  to  capital  and  to  the  people, 
then  conditions  will  settle  into  steady  prosperity. 


39 

George     H.     Holt,     President,     Holt     Lumber     Company, 
Chicago,  111. 

The  disturbed  business  condition  is  worldwide;  aggravated 
legally  in  this  and  other  countries  by  political  and  social  condi- 
tions. This  country  cannot  of  itself  control  international  con- 
ditions, but  no  more  can  it  control  its  national  and  intrastate 
conditions,  so  long  as  it  remains  ignorant  or  neglectful  of  its 
international  function  and  responsibility,  and  deludes  itself  with 
a  false  perspective  of  it?  own  powers  and  importance,  and  inde- 
pendence of  the  rest  of  the  world. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  for  interstate  business. 
A  Federal  license  law  would  be  of  doubtful  value,  because  with- 
out standardized  accounting  and  definition  of  its  rights  and 
duties  and  power  to  enforce  compliance  with  some  standard  by 
some  authority,  it  would  soon  become  simply  another  tax-eaters' 
mow.  If  repealed,  something  else  should  be  substituted  in  place 
of  the  Sherman  Law.  Regulation  must  be  effective  for  the 
public  good,  or  give  place  to  government  administration  or 
socialism.  If  the  law  cannot  be  administered  in  such  a  manner 
as  to  correct  the  evils  aimed  at,  without  at  the  same  time  killing 
and  maiming  and  paralyzing  the  "public"  whose  interest  it  is 
designed  to  foster  and  maintain,  then  it  should  be  repealed  or 
amended.  The  recent  administration  of  the  law  could  not  have 
been  surpassed  in  inhumanity  and  anti-social  quality  and  lack 
of  perspective,  if  it  had  been  administered  by  its  worst  enemy, 
and  he  in  a  drunken  rage. 

As  trade  unions  are  the  most  compelling  factor  in  cost  of 
product,  no  scheme  of  regulating  trade  and  commerce,  which 
leaves  them  out  of  the  calculation,  can  be  final. 

Sheldon  J.  Glass,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager,  Mil- 
waukee Gas  Light  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

I  do  not  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  if  the  term 
"  reasonable,"  as  read  into  it  by  the  Supreme  Court,  can  be 
made  understandable  and  different  attorneys-general  will  not  put 
different  meanings  on  it.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and 
regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Should 
think  this  might  be  of  advantage  to  the  public.  I  do  not  see 
any  reason  for  a  national  incorporation  law,  provided  the  Sher- 
man Law  is  kept  on  the  books  and  is  made  understandable. 
See  no  objection  to  it,  provided  it  is  not  made  compulsory  upon 
a  concern  doing  an  interstate  commerce  business  to  accept  under 
it.  Possibly  a  Federal  license  law,  not  compulsory,  would  be 
productive  of  good  if  by  accepting  under  it  a  corporation  might 
have  some  privileges  to  compensate  for  what  it  otherwise  might 
be  called  upon  to  give  up.  I  attribute  disturbed  business  con- 
ditions to  politics. 


40 

George  W.  Sisson,  President,  The  A.  Sherman  Lumber 
Company,  and  President,  Racquette  River  Paper 
Company,  Potsdam,  N.  Y. 

President  Taft  says  he  proposes  to  accept  and  act  upon  the 
findings  and  report  of  the  Tariff  Commission.  Yet,  notwith- 
standing their  investigation  of  paper  manufacture  in  the  United 
States  and  in  Canada  and  their  report  that  the  cost  to  produce 
news  paper  was  $5.35  per  ton  less  in  Canada  than  in  the  United 
States,  Congress  passes  and  the  President  signs  the  law  admit- 
ting paper  under  value  of  four  cents  a  pound  duty  free,  and  now 
other  nations,  having  treaties  with  the  most  favored  nation 
clause,  are  claiming  under  those  treaties  the  right  to  free  entry 
of  paper  to  our  markets.  I  cite  this  as  a  sample  of  the  causes 
of  the  present  disturbed  condition  of  the  business  interests  of 
our  country.  The  act  mentioned  with  reference  to  the  paper 
schedule  was  believed  to  be  at  the  demand  of  the  American 
Newspaper  Publishers'  Association  (John  Norris,  secretary), 
an  organization  apparently  in  restraint  of  trade  and  having 
influence  with  the  law-making  power.  The  tampering  by  the 
executive  and  government  with  the  business  operations  of  pri- 
vate enterprise;  the  uncertainty  as  to  future  tariff  tinkering,  and 
the  President's  reciprocity  measure,  with  the  effect  of  section  2 
of  that  act  in  evidence,  have  been  the  most  prominent  factors 
in  disturbing  business  interests. 

AVe  need  national  incorporation  laws  operative  and  uniform 
in  all  the  States,  if  they  can  be  made  to  supplant  the  diverse 
laws  of  incorporation  of  the  separate  States.  Such  a  change 
would  be  beneficial  to  business  interests.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  It  is  more 
reasonable  that  farmers  be  permitted  to  hold  their  crops  for 
higher  prices  by  understanding  among  themselves  than  that 
speculators  should  be  permitted  to  buy  up  grain,  produce  or 
cotton  and  withhold  from  the  market  for  the  purpose  of  advanc- 
ing prices  and  controlling  the  market. 

W.  T.  Hildrup,  Jr.,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Harrisburg 
Pipe  and  Pipe  Bending  Company,  Harrisburg,  Pa. 

Business  can  adapt  its  methods  to  almost  all  definite  condi- 
tions, but  not  to  political  and  judicial  uncertainty,  like  that 
existing  during  the  past  five  years.  Time  is  an  element  of  great- 
est value  in  business,  and  the  waste  of 'time  and  delay  in  reach- 
ing definite  conclusions  is  the  greatest  objection,  in  our  opinion, 
to  the  commission  form  of  regulation  of  commerce  and  manufac- 
ture. The  uncertain  action  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Coin- 
mission  and  Commerce  Court;  the  continual  delays  in  reaching 
definite  decisions  on  freight  rates ;  the  lack  of  definite  and  clear 
understanding  of  the  Sherman  Act,  have  caused  and  are  causing 
incalculable  trouble  to  business  enterprise.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  repealed,  and  amended  if  not  repealed.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 


41 

Glenn  W.  Traer,  Traer  Coal  Company,  Chicago,  111. 

Agreements  or  combinations  which  (a)  lessen  the  number  of 
competitors  in  any  given  situation,  or  (6)  regulate  production 
and  distribution,  unless  they  are  carried  to  the  point  where  they 
have  power  to  or  do  actually  "  fix  or  arbitrarily  control  prices  or 
limit  output,"  or  create  monopoly,  should  not  be  forbidden.  The 
number  of  competitors  is  lessened  and  prices  perhaps  incidentally 
affected  every  time  a  partnership  or  corporation  is  formed.  I 
would  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  original  juris- 
diction to  determine  whether  agreements  or  combinations  are 
in  violation  of  the  Sherman  Act  as  amended,  but  not  with  power 
to  fix  maximum  prices.  The  Sherman  Act  should  be  amended 
by  eliminating  the  vague  description  of  results  called  "  restraint 
of  trade  "  and  inserting  prohibition  of  "  agreements  or  combi- 
nations between  buyers  or  sellers,"  "the  purpose  or  necessary 
effect  of  which  shall  be  to  fix  or  arbitrarily  control  prices  or 
limit  output."  "  Stifling,"  "  strangling  "  or  "  throttling " 
competition  by  agreement  comes  under  the  conspiracy  laws  now. 

N.  O.  Nelson,  President,  N.  O.  Nelson  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, Co-operative,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Law  and  the  courts  have  in  the  last  ten  years  greatly  im- 
proved business  methods.  They  can  do  much  more,  eliminating 
the  evils  that  remain,  protecting  the  public  and  investors  alike. 
The  largest  of  capital  combinations  are  economical;  they  can 
easily  be  regulated  with  simple  laws,  thoroughly  enforced  by 
courts  and  commissions.  The  old-fashioned  competition  was  in 
all  respects  worse  than  the  combination,  as  a  whole;  worse  than 
the  trusts  at  their  worst.  Regulate,  orderly,  fairly,  and  without 
prejudice.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  repealed,  to  be  replaced  by  a  substitute  dictated 
by  experience.  This  law  should  regulate,  with  a  view  to  prohibit 
ruinous  or  excessive  or  unequal  prices — i.  e.,  high  in  one  place, 
low  in  another — and  the  law  should  provide  by  definite  statute 
for  publicity,  as  in  banking. 

L.   D.  Harkins,  Faribault  Furniture   Company,  Faribault, 
Minn. 

Big  business  has  had  its  way  too  long.  Now  when  it  is 
being  checked  it  is  like  an  overgrown  boy  who  has  been  petted. 
It  rebels  or  reaches  for  more,  as  the  case  may  be  and  opportunity 
offers.  Had  Benjamin  Harrison,  Grover  Cleveland  and  William 
iMcKinley  enforced  the  Sherman  Law  as  Theodore  Eoosevelt 
and  Mr.  Taft  have  done,  and  had  men  who  were  violators  of 
this  and  other  laws  been  punished,  as  they  should  have  been, 
with  fine  and  imprisonment — all  alike  and  no  favors  for  the 
"big  guns,"  we  would  not  now  have  the  experiences  we  are 
having. 


42 

Grange  Sard,  President  Union  Trust  Co.,  and  President 
Rathbone,  Sard  &  Co.,  Rathbone  Stove  Works, 
Albany,  N.  Y. 

A  moderate  reduction  of  the  tariff,  allowing  the  foreign 
manufacturer  to  compete  for  American  business,  will  restore 
competitive  conditions  and  reduce  the  cost  of  living.  Doubt  and 
uncertainty  as  to  what  the  Sherman  Law  may  do;  how  much 
further  the  administration  may  go  in  destroying  business  indus- 
tries and  the  fear  that  politicians  may  play  politics  with  those 
industries  are  the  causes  of  disturbance  in  business.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  repealed  or  amended  so  that  law-abiding 
manufacturers  should  know  if  they  are  violating  it,  without  the 
intervention  of  the  courts.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted 
from  the  Sherman  Act  in  so  far  as  to  agreements  as  to  wages, 
but  they  should  not  be  allowed  to  drive  workmen  or  employers 
out  of  business  who  disagree  with  them.  I  favor  a  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Armstrong  &  Graham,  Manufacturers  of  Harness  and  Sad- 
dlery, Detroit,  Mich. 

Poor  crops,  and  lower  prices  for  ihe  same;  also  bad  financial 
condition  of  the  railroads,  owing  to  low  rates;  and  farm-land 
speculation,  are  the  causes  of  any  disturbance  in  present  busi- 
ness conditions.  We  believe  in  full  and  free  competition  and 
full  and  free  liberty  of  employment.  We  believe  that  any  de- 
parture from  these  principles  would  be  injurious  to  the  com- 
mon people  and  would  finally  lead  them  back  to  serfdom,  such 
as  prevailed  in  feudal  times.  As  to  returning  to  old  competi- 
tive methods,  most  trades  are  still  engaged  in  full  and  free  com- 
petition, and  those  who  have  departed  from  it  should  return. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  stronger,  if  possible.  Com- 
petition between  railroads  not  being  possible,  they  should  be 
allowed  to  agree  on  rates.  As  to  national  incorporation  and 
Federal  license,  we  favor  the  method  that  will  produce  the  best 
results  in  the  way  of  encouraging  competition. 

J.  D.  Hawkins,  President,  United  States  Reduction  and  Re- 
fining Company,  Colorado  Springs,  Colo. 

What  caused  or  causes  the  present  disturbed  business  condi- 
tions? Primarily  the  Democratic  House  with  their  threats  of 
tariff  reductions.  Such  a  body,  swayed  by  local  sectional  preju- 
dices, demonstrated  in  the  passage  of  the  Payne  bill,  by  their 
"  trading,"  their  willingness  to  have  practically  everything  free, 
provided  their  own  particular  local  manufactures,  whether  in 
Mississippi  or  Pennsylvania,  were  protected.  The  tariff  is  a 
matter  of  business  and  not  politics,  and  should  be  handled  as 
such  entirely  outside  of  Congress.  When  the  tariff  question 
is  settled  for  a  number  of  years,  then  we  will  have  business 
prosperity.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  and  another 
measure,  effective  and  not  harmful,  enacted  in  its  place. 


43 

The  M.  Garland  Company,  Manufacturers  of  Saw  Mill  and 
Conveying  Machinery,  Bay  City,  Mich. 

Competition  in  our  line  of  saw-mill  machinery  has  been  so 
strong  that  40  per  cent,  of  all  the  companies  have  failed  or  are 
second  credit,  and  the  best  designers  have  been  driven  to  other 
lines.  There  are  too  many  companies  now  for  the  amount  of 
business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  or  a  new  law 
enacted,  allowing  combinations  for  the  purpose  of  reducing  costs 
and  expenses,  also  same  control  over  individuals  and  partner- 
ships. Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 
Sherman  Act.  Combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  pro- 
duction or  to  bold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  lawful. 
The  farmers  of  this  district  of  Michigan  have  combined  on 
prices  for  sugar  beets  and  practically  control  the  operation  of 
these  factories. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  if  individuals  and 
partnerships  are  included;  also  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

The  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  are:  (1)  Tariff 
tinkering,  resulting  in  a  lack  of  confidence;  (2)  government 
persecution  of  corporations;  (3)  the  automobile  has  had  a  great 
influence  in  several  ways;  the  inflated  or  excessive  selling  price 
has  caused  excessively  high  wages  for  ordinary  workmen  in 
the  auto  shops,  thus  taking  them  away  from  manufactories 
that  cannot  afford  the  wage,  causing  a  big  loss  to  the  manufac- 
turer of  standard  machinery.  The  craze  for  cars  has  also  had 
its  influence  on  the  furniture,  clothing,  household  and  realty 
business,  and  hundreds  of  instances  may  be  cited  when  the 
home  is  neglected  for  the  joy  ride.  The  desire  for  luxuries  is 
traveling  at  a  much  faster  gait  than  the  income. 

If  the  idea  of  the  government  is  to  prevent  monopolies. 
they  have  to  amend  the  patent  law,  as  this  is  a  17-year  govern- 
ment-granted monopoly,  or  would  be  if  the  government  would 
stand  back  of  it,  which  they  don't. 

We  believe  that  the  United  States  Steel  Company  have  been 
a  great  factor  for  the  general  good  in  our  line.  Since  their 
incorporation  prices  have  been  steady  and  could  be  depended  on 
for  a  while,  but  under  the  old  competition  it  was  up  one  day 
and  down  the  next:  and  instability  of  prices  helps  panics  along 
in  disastrous  shape.  We  believe  the  national  elections  are  very 
disturbing  factors,  and  that  the  President  and  Congress  should 
be  elected  for  six-  or  eight-year  periods;  also  that  a  tariff  com- 
mission should  be  formed  that  will  have  absolute  power,  except 
under  veto  of  the  President. 

Flambeau  Lumber  Company,  Lac  du  Flambeau,  Wis. 

As  soon  as  the  Dollar  knows  it  will  be  safe  it  will  come  out 
from  hiding. 


44 

R.  N.  Day,  Secretary  of  Day  Brothers  Lumber  Company, 
New  Orleans,  La. 

Natural  readjustment  following  a  panic;  conflicting  legisla- 
tion by  various  States;  and  national  legislation,  intended  to 
aggrandize  individual  statesmen  (or  politicians),  rather  than 
to  really  place  business  on  a  solid  foundation,  all  contribute  to 
business  disturbance. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  an  antiquated  piece  of  legislation,  un- 
fitted for  the  conditions  of  to-day.  It  must  be  interpreted  for 
every  corporation  in  the  country.  I  think  we  need  a  law  less 
general  in  its  terms  and  more  specific;  and  all  laws  governing 
corporations  should  be  Federal  laws.  The  present  babel  of 
State  and  national  laws  is  absurd;  the  attendant  litigation,  an 
economic  waste.  Instead  of  punishing  corporations  for  what 
they  have  done  in  the  past,  the  government  should  frame  a 
law  suited  to  conditions  as  they  exist  to-day,  and  enforce  it. 
The  punishment  of  corporations  under  the  Sherman  Law  does 
the  public  no  good — does  no  one  any  good.  The  Standard  Oil 
Company  has  been  duly"  punished  for  being  bad,  but  there  will 
be  no  drop  in  the  price  of  oil  in  my  opinion.  Instead  of  disor- 
ganizing business,  we  want  to  organize  it  properly.  Under  the 
present  system  of  prosecutions  and  u  unscrambling,"  it  seems 
to  me  that  we  are  due  to  swap  places  with  China  if  the  process 
is  continued  a  while  longer.  I  favor  national  incorporation, 
Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

M.  L.  Blackburn,  President  Novelty  Stamping  Company, 
Bellaire,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  I  favor  national 
incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

Tariff  agitation  and  assaults  on  business  interests  by  polit- 
ical theorists  are  responsible  for  business  uncertainty.  Only 
by  a  stable  market  can  our  country  prosper.  The  application 
of  the  same  rules  to  the  large  business  interests  that  govern 
railroad  rates  will  give  all  the  restrictions  .necessary  to  protect 
the  consumer.  Unlimited  competition  has  long  been  proven  to  be 
the  death  of  trade.  Since  90  odd  per  cent,  of  all  manufacturers 
have  failed  under  that  condition,  would  it  not  be  wise  to  con- 
sider the  virtues  and  benefits  of  combinations  and  to  be  really 
progressive  in  fostering  them  as  does  Germany  ? 

W.  A.  Blair,  President,  The  Blair  Milling  Company,  Atchi- 
son,  Kan. 

Business  is  disturbed  by  two  causes — the  watering  of  stocks, 
\vhich  decreases  value  of  stocks  already  watered  too  much.  Capi- 
tal refuses  to  invest  under  these  conditions. 

The  tendency  of  centralizing  capital  to  operate  corporations 
in  many  different  lines  of  trade  opposing  the  individual  man- 
agement and  ownership  of  business  throughout  the  country. 


-15 

John  Stephen  Sewell,  V.  P.  &  G.  M.,  Alabama  Marble  Co., 
Gantts  Quarry,  Ala. 

All  the  causes  that  have  contributed  to  previous  depres- 
sions are  probably  in  operation  now  to  some  extent;  but  the 
evils  developed  by  unregulated  companies  have  produced  a  state 
of  mind  in  the  people  at  large  which  will  be  a  disturbing  factor 
until  it  is  corrected.  The  average  man  is  not  satisfied  with  the 
"rules  of  the  game."  They  leave  too  little  for  simple,  honest 
and  loyal  effort,-  and  yield  too  much  to  extraordinary  commercial 
acumen  and  unscrupulous  greed.  Men  of  unusual  commercial 
ability  need  to  be  taught  that  moral  as  well  as  legal  restric- 
tions must  be  observed,  and  that  they  owe  a  greater  return  to 
the  social  scheme  which  affords  opportunities  for  the  exercise 
of  their  powers  of  acquisition  and  security  in  the  possession  of 
their  gains.  Until  this  is  done  the  people  will  continue  to  harass 
big  business.  Properly  regulated  combination  is  at  least  one 
powerful  remedy  for  this  chief  of  existing  evils.  I  favor  a 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  but  there  should  be  a  law  recogniz- 
ing the  advantages  and  necessity  of  combination,  while  provid- 
ing for  suitable  control  and  regulation.  If  this  can  be  accom- 
plished by  amendment  of  the  Sherman  Law,  amend  it;  other- 
wise, repeal  it.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  obligatory 
on  all  corporations  doing  interstate  business.  The  cost  should 
be  moderate.  I  also  favor  Federal  license  for  all  interstate  busi- 
ness; the  license  should  be  moderate  in  amount.  I  also  approve 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Bloom   Bros.   &   Co.,   Wholesale    Clothing   Manufacturers, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  money  trusts  don't  know  where  they  are  at;  hence  they 
are  diminishing  and  restricting  loans.  Therefore  there  is  less 
of  so-called  enterprise,  expansion,  trade,  etc.,  which,  of  course, 
is  felt  in  every  channel  of  business.  Business  enterprises  have 
been  overextended  by  reason  of  the  money  trusts'  operations, 
and  when  they  reduce  their  operations,  business  enterprises  get 
back  to  their  'normal  proportions.  Business  is  normal  at  pres- 
fiil  and  where  it  naturally  belongs.  Business  can  be  boomed 
up  to  the  skies,  but  that  isn't  where  it  belongs.  It  must  get  back- 
to  earth  some  time,  and  that  is  where  we  are  getting  now.  The 
so-called  disturbed  business  conditions  are  simply  the  getting 
back  to  the  normal. 

A.     C.     Phelps,     Manager,     German-American     Company, 
Draper,  N.  C. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  want  of  confidence,  tariff 
agitation  and  political  unrest. 

Think  fundamentally  conditions  are  sound,  and  general  im- 
provement will  be  steady  but  slow.  Do  not  expect  a  boom,  nor 
does  the  country  want  it.  A  final  adjustment  of  the  tariff  will 
improve  conditions  greatly. 


46 

Edward  L.  Buchwalter,  President  The  American  Seeding 
Machine  Company,  Springfield,  Ohio. 

I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable. 
It  should  be  repealed,  or  else  it  should  be  radically  changed  to 
make  it  possible  for  large  business  enterprises  to  exist.  If 
amended  it  should  permit  corporations  to  organize  with  large 
financial  resources,  whether  entirely  new  or  consolidating  two 
or  more  existing  corporations,  but  subject  to  national  power  to 
prevent  a  monopoly,  and  free  from  unjust  State  laws.  I  see  no 
objections  to  railroads  being  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  providing  the  rates  are  reasonable  and  don't  show 
any  favors.  As  to  trade  unions  and  farmers'  combinations,  fair 
play  and  honesty  demand  that  laws  show  no  favors  to  any  indi- 
vidual, organization  or  corporation. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  for  all  organizations 
of  every  kind  that  do  an  interstate  business,  and  such  corpora- 
tions should  be  under  the  control  of  and  be  protected  by  the 
national  government.  As  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 
industrial  corporations  are  so  much  more  numerous  than  those 
classed  as  common  carriers,  and  the  business  so  different  that  I 
don't  believe  an  Industrial  Trade  Commission  is  necessary. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  largely  the  result  of  unwise, 
unjust  talk  and  charges  against  large  business  enterprises  and  of 
continued  threats  of  prosecution  and  more  radical  legislation 
against  corporations.  Business  men,  largely  interested  in  public 
service  and  industrial  enterprises,  have  lost  confidence  in  receiv- 
ing justice  at  the  hands  of  our  legislators,  and  they  are  not  dis- 
posed to  risk  more  capital  in  their  enterprises.  The  general 
conditions  of  the  country  are  favorable  for  business  prosperity, 
and  prosperity  would  come,  employment  would  be  given  to  the 
unemployed,  if  the  hearts  and  minds  of  our  lawmakers  pos- 
sessed a  reasonable  degree  of  fairness  and  business  sense  and 
the  courage  to  render  justice  to  all  interests. 

James   Logan,   General   Manager  United   States  Envelope 
Company,  Worcester,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable,  in  my  judg- 
ment, but  I  do  not  favor  its  repeal,  nor  am  I  prepared  to  sug- 
gest amendments.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  and  combinations  of 
farmers,  to  restrict  production  or  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices, 
should  not  be  rendered  lawful.  It  is  not  feasible,  in  my  judg- 
ment, to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in  business. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  Federal  license,  if 
the  former  would  not  make  the  latter  unnecessary.  Disturbed 
business  conditions  are  due  to  the  fact  that  we  were  running 
wild,  and  men  were  doing  things  under  the  names  of  -finance 
nnrl  business  which  needed  to  be  described  bv  another  word. 


47 

R.  M.  Owen,  R.  M.  Owen  &  Co.,  Automobiles,  New  York 
City. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  It  is  not 
feasible,  in  my  judgment,  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  clear  to  the 
business  community  and  allow  us  to  run  our  affairs,  knowing  just 
what  the  law  allows  and  what  it  will  punish.  It  is  impossible 
for  us  to  operate  successfully  while  a  lot  of  lawyers  are  making 
laws  and  a  lot  of  other  lawyers  are  trying  to  upset  them.  Rail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
Trade  unions  and  farmers  'combinations  should  not  be  excepted 
from  the  Sherman  Act.  Why  should  farmers  or  labor  unions 
be  allowed  to  combine  to  force  up  prices  and  a  similar  privilege 
not  be  extended  to  manufacturers  who  may  form  a  combination 
in  order  to  save  themselves  from  bankruptcy? 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  if  it  is  submitted  to 
representative  business  men  for  approval,  and  is  not  a  farce 
such  as  the  Corporation  Tax  Law  is.  I  favor  a  Federal  license 
law,  if  it  is  not  possible 'to  pass  a  good  national  incorporation 
law.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  only  if  business 
men  are  appointed  instead  of  lawyers.  Disturbed  business  con- 
ditions are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to  uncertainty  as  to  the  laws 
and  who  is  going  to  try  to  upset  them  next. 

Reference  is  made  in  the  above  answers  of  my  feeling  with 
respect  to  the  part  which  lawyers  have  played  in  the  recent 
business  disturbance.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  they  do  not  know 
how  to  draw  up  laws  which  govern  business  relations,  and  the 
result  is  a  grand  mix-up.  If  representative  business  men  can  be 
persuaded  to  take  some  interest  in  legislation,  the  business 
affairs  of  the  country  will  prosper  and  not  until  then. 

A.   C.  Blinn,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager  Evansville 
Gas  &  Electric  Light  Company,  Evansville,  Ind. 

I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  as 
clear  and  workable,  and  I  favor  its  repeal.  Congress  should 
substitute  therefor  a  law  under  which  it  would  be  possible  for 
large  corporations  to  operate  which  are  doing  an  interstate 
business.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

In  my  opinion,  the  present  disturbance  in  business  condi- 
tions is  due  to  activity  on  the  part  of  the  government  in  seeking 
to  dissolve  by  means  of  the  Sherman  Law  so-called  trusts.  I 
believe  this  has  been  very  unwise,  as  under  present  day  methods 
large  corporations  are  a  necessity,  and  should  under  proper 
supervision  be  permitted  to  conduct  their  businesses  on  a  rea- 
sonable basis;  and  instead  of  lawsuits,  instituted  under  what  is 
almost  universally  considered  an  act  unsuited  to  conditions  as 
now  existing,  we  should  have  new  and  reasonable  laws,  more  in 
harmony  with  present  day  methods. 


48 

O.  G.  Stark,  President  and  Secretary  Stark  Distillery  Com- 
pany, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

We  are  in  receipt  of  yours,  with  questions  relating  to  the 
Sherman  Law  thereon.  This  matter  seems  to  us  to  be  the  most 
vital  one  affecting  business  interests  that  has  ever  come  before 
the  people  of  this  country  for  solution.  We  are  opposed  to  this 
unrest,  but  we  do  not  see  that  the  Federal  government  is  the 
final  recourse.  All  corporation  matters  inherently  come  under 
State  jurisdiction,  and  in  our  opinion  the  national  law  should 
be  abolished  entirely  and  uniform  State  laws  passed. 

We  appreciate  the  unrest  prevalent  in  business  circles.  It 
is  not  all  based  on  fancy.  There  is  some  reason  for  real  con- 
cern on  both  sides,  and  we  believe  that  if  there  was  a  proper 
enlightenment  of  the  masses  of  the  people  this  vexatious  ques- 
tion could  be  settled  at  once  to  the  satisfaction  of  all,  without 
the  destruction  of  property,  in  such  a  manner  that  all  vested 
interests  would  be  protected  and  which  would  inure  to  the  benefit 
of  the  entire  people,  employees  and  employers. 

Business  interests  are  not  afraid  of  large  corporation?,  nor 
are  they  in  favor  of  hampering  them;  but  they  are  afraid  of 
continued  concentration  in  narrowing  circles  of  the  capital  of 
the  country,  arising  from  the  growth  of  surplus  funds  in  the 
treasuries  of  corporations  with  perpetual  charters  necessitating 
reinvestment  all  the  time.  They  are  opposed  to  holding  corpora- 
tions with  unlimited  duration  and  continuing  augmenting  sur- 
plus accounts,  because  in  the  end  it  means  the  absorption  of  one 
business  after  another  by  the  larger  corporations,  if  unrestricted, 
and  the  ultimate  control  of  all  resources  in  concentrated  hands. 

To  avoid  this,  and  also  to  maintain  property  rights  and  to 
meet  the  development  of  a  marvelous  age,  there  should  be,  in 
our  opinion,  uniform  State  laws  which  would  limit  the  amount 
of  surplus  of  any  corporation  to  a  percentage  of  its  capital  (say, 
50  per  cent.),  after  which  it  should  be  compulsory  for  all  cor- 
porations to  pay  out  all  net  earnings  in  dividends,  so  that  the 
money  may  be  kept  in  circulation  and  go  into  the  hands  of  indi- 
viduals in  the  form  of  dividends  and  be  subject  eventually  to 
a  Probate  Court  and  to  the  natural  laws  of  distribution.  The 
size  of  the  corporation  would  not  then  be  a  menace,  because  the 
capital  stock  would  expand  and  increase  as  warranted,  and  tho 
surplus  would  remain  in  the  same  ratio.  This  would  mean 
wider  distribution  of  the  stock  or  really  more  partners.  Tt  would 
also  necessitate  careful  and  honest  management. 

This  is  merely  an  outline  of  what  will  ultimately  be  neces- 
sary to  avoid  continual  unrest  and  to  enable  co-operative  enter- 
prises to  succeed. 

American  Pad  and  Textile  Company,  Greenfield,  Ohio. 

Business  disturbance?  Probably  being  a  case  of  sulks  on 
the  part  of  "  Big  Business  "  and  some  timidity  on  the  part  of 
capital. 


49 

Arthur  T.  Lyman,  Manufacturer,  Boston,  Mass. 

I  favor  neither  national  incorporation  nor  Federal  license 
for  corporations  engaged  in  interstate  commerce,  unless  the 
oppressive  and  unfair  legislation  by  States  cannot  be  otherwise 
avoided.  Let  the  States  allow  free  trade  between  them,  which 
the  Constitution,  by  the  regulation  of  interstate  commerce, 
intended  to  secure,  doing  away  with  the  interstate  tariffs  of 
earlier  times.  Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  are 
both  dealt  with  unreasonably  by  the  express  terms  of  the  Sher- 
man Law,  and  the  Supreme  Court  decision  leaves  the  question 
as  to  "  reasonableness  "  to  be  tried  and  determined  in  every  case. 
I  am  decidedly  opposed  to  the  suggestion  that  minority  stock- 
holders and  investors  are  in  need  of  additional  protection.  In- 
vestors will  be  fooled  and  seem  to  like  it,  as  they  like  quack 
medicines ;  and  minority  stockholders  often  have  now  more  than 
adequate  protection.  I  am  opposed  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission and  regard  it  as  an  unnecessary  nuisance. 

In  addition  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  are  the  reduction  in  cost  to  consumers  and 
the  avoidance  of  the  great  waste  of  small-scale  production  and 
distribution.  I  favor  either  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  or 
its  amendment.  If  it  does  not  apply  to  labor  unions  and  cotton 
and  grain  "  trusts,"  it  should  be  repealed.  Railroads  should 
certainly  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 

Eoosevelt  and  the  scare  he  started,  with  the  general  unrest, 
are  mainly  responsible  for  disturbed  business  conditions.  He 
availed  himself  of  the  unrest,  and  set  and  fanned  a  fire  that 
has  not  been  put  out.  It  is  seriously  obstructing  business  activity 
and  development. 

W.   J.   Strassburger,   Secretary  and  Treasurer,   Allegheny 
Plate  Glass  Company,  Glassmere,  Pa. 

For  years  past  foreign  manufacturers  have  been  able  to  co- 
operate under  government  supervision,  to  the  extent  of  assur- 
ing reasonable  profits.  This  country  would  do  well  to  study  the 
foreign  plan,  which  is  working  successfully,  and  copy  it.  Every 
American  laborer  deserves  fair  remuneration  and  American  liv- 
ing conditions.  The  farmers  are  entitled  to  like  treatment,  as 
are  the  common  carriers,  manufacturers  and  merchants  entitled 
to  a  fair  return  on  their  investments.  This  country  would  pro- 
gress under  the  foreign  system. 

Too  many  demagogues  and  too  much  worship  of  them  and 
their  activities,  which  seem  to  have  for  their  purpose  primarily 
self-advancement,  are  causing  business  disturbance.  We  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  so  far  as  indus- 
tries may  co-operate  under  government  supervision,  as  they  do 
abroad.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
nffecting  rates. 


50 

W.  B.  Hill,  President  Ash  Grove  Lime  &  Portland  Cement 
Co.,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

The  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is  not  made  clear 
and  workable.  I  have  spent  considerable  money  with  attorneys 
of  standing,  reputation  and  ability,  and  they  are  unanimously 
of  the  opinion  that  even  the  men  who  made  the  law  could  not 
interpret  its  meaning. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  say  the  Sherman  Law  as  a  whole 
should  be  repealed.  There  is  no  question,  however,  but  what 
it  should  be  amended  and  its  meaning  made  very  plain.  I  don't 
believe  it  is  possible  to  do  a  business  of  any  magnitude  to-day 
and  keep  within  the  law. 

My  position  as  to  a  national  incorporation  law  would  depend 
somewhat  upon  the  restrictions  it  contained.  The  development 
of  the  United  States  would  have  been  very  slow  had  it  not  been 
for  the  "watered  stock."  I  can  see  no  serious  objection  to 
"  watered  stock  "  if  it  was  labeled  as  such  and  the  buyer  knew 
exactly  what  he  was  getting  when  he  buys  it.  (Possibly  a  pic- 
ture of  Niagara  Falls  on  the  stock  certificate  would  indicate  the 
character  of  the  stock.)  The  plain  facts  should  be  stated  on 
all  stock  certificates,  so  that  it  would  not  be  possible  to  practice 
deception,  and  this,  in  my  opinion,  would  overcome  the  objec- 
tion to  "watered  stock." 

I  favor  a  Federal  license  law ;  also  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. I  will  say,  however,  this  commission  should  be  selected 
from  men  who  have  had  practical  experience  in  general  business, 
as  well  as  manufacturing,  etc.  In  substance,  they  should  not  be 
politicians  who  have  nothing  but  the  theoretical  knowledge  of 
business  and  no  practical  experience. 

Our  present  financial  system  is  admittedly  a  bad  one  and 
must  be  remedied.  The  recommendations  made  by  Senator 
Aldrich  of  a  Central  Eeserve  Bank  is  certainly  a  step  in  the 
right  direction.  It  should,  however,  be  broad  enough  in  its 
scope  to  take  in  all  classes  of  banking,  and  should  not  be  re- 
stricted to  national  banks,  but  should  include  State  banks  and 
trust  companies  as  well,  and  should  permit  currency  to  be  issued 
against  high-class  government,  State,  municipal  and  railroad 
bonds.  These,  of  course,  should  be  graded  to  a  point  of  absolute 
security,  and  the  currency  issued  against  such  collaterals  taxed 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  would  automatically  be  retired  when 
the  rates  of  interest  drop  down  to,  or  below,  6  per  cent.,  and  in 
this  way  prevent  inflation,  but  always  have  sufficient  collaterals 
at  hand  to  furnish  the  necessary  currency  when  needed.  The 
details  of  such  a  plan  is  a  long  story  which  I  will  not  burden 
you  with. 

This,  in  effect,  would  probably  cause  many  banks  to  put  their 
reserve  into  bonds,  instead  of  carrying  large  balances  at  reserve 
centers,  and  I  can  imagine  that  'banks  at  the  reserve  centers 
would  object  to  this,  but  as  a  matter  of  protection  it  would 
place  the  smaller  banks  where  they  would  be  absolutely  inde- 


51 

pendent  and  would  get  larger  returns  on  their  reserve  funds 
and  not  be  in  a  position  where  the  reserve  centers  could  shut 
them  off  from  currency  when  it  is  needed,  as  they  did  in  1907. 
Under  such  a  plan  the  West  can  take  care  of  itself  and  help  the 
East  occasionally  if  necessary. 

I  wish  also  to  suggest  that  railroads  should  be  prohibited 
from  paying  dividends  on  "watered  stock"  until  such  time  as 
their  road  is  in  proper  condition  to  serve  the  public  or  to  prop- 
erly take  care  of  the  traffic  offered  them.  There  are  roads  in 
the  West  to-day  paying  dividends  on  their  common  stock,  whose 
tracks  are  dangerous  to  ride  over,  and  they  have  not  sufficient 
equipment  to  take  care  of  the  traffic  offered  them  even  under 
normal  conditions,  and  it  would  seem  that  there  should  be  some 
law  prohibiting  them  from  handling  their  properties  in  this 
way. 

I  believe  we  should  have  a  permanent  tariff  commission, 
composed  of  men  who  are  skilled  in  that  particular  line.  We 
should  also  have  an  industrial  commission  in  charge  of  cor- 
porations. Also  a  labor  commission.  I  want  to  emphasize  the 
fact  that  these  commissions,  to  be  efficient  and  of  any  service, 
must  necessarily  be  composed  of  men  skilled  in  the  particular 
line  of  work  to  which  they  have  been  appointed,  and  that  while 
one  should  not  be  disqualified  for  such  a  position  because  he 
has  been  active  in  politics  or  had  filled  prominent  political  posi- 
tions, that  should  be  one  of  the  very  last  considerations. 

L.  N.  Gross,  Ladies'  Waists  and  Dresses,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  fundamental  cause  of  the  disturbed  business  conditions 
is  the  depreciating  standard  of  value.  The  Sherman  Anti-Trust 
Law  is  an  obsolete  method  of  procedure  for  the  present  condi- 
tion of  American  business.  There  is  no  possible  way  to  progress 
by  disorganizing  the  corporate  methods  of  business. 

Railroads  should  be  permitted  to  agree  as  to  the  proper  rates 
for  railway  services,  subject  to  Federal  control.  I  favor  a  Fed- 
eral congress  of  commercial  States  to  adjust  the  prices  of  com- 
modities and  services  on  the  market. 

I  do  not  favor  a  Federal  license  law  for  the  operation  of 
corporations  in  their  interstate  business. 

John  Reid,  Manager,  J.  L.  Mott  Iron  Works,  New  York 
City. 

The  Sherman  Law  and  the  attitude  and  action  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  relation  thereto  has,  in  my  judgment,  caused  hesi- 
tation and  uncertainty  on  the  part  of  business  men.  The 
business  of  manufacturing,  of  buying  and  selling  is  as  old  as 
the  hills  and,  unless  hampered  by  artificial  conditions  created 
by  Sherman  laws,  tariffs  and  such  like,  will  go  along,  as  it 
has  always  done,  in  a  perfectly  natural  way,  guided  and  gov- 
erned by  universally  recognized  and  well-established  commercial 
laws.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law. 


52 

A.  N.  Barren,  Factory  Manager,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

I  consider  the  question  at  issue  to-day,  due  to  the  decision 
of  the  Supreme  Court  on  the  Standard  Oil  Company  and  To- 
bacco Company,  the  most  important  one  in  the  country. 

I  do  not  believe  in  unrestricted  competition,  nor  in  unre- 
stricted restraint  of  trade.  One  is  as  harmful  in  one  direction 
as  the  other  is  in  another. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  dissolved  either  the  Standard 
Oil  Company  or  the  American  Tobacco  Company,  except  in 
form,  so  that  it  will  now  cost  these  companies  several  million 
more  per  year  to  do  business,  and  their  efficiency  will  be  less, 
especially  in  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  due  to  the  numerous 
subdivisions.  In  my  opinion  it  would  have  been  far  better  to 
have  punished  by  fine  or  some  other  way  those  two  corporations 
for  whatever  they  have  done  in  the  past  that  was  wrong. 

It  is  not  fair  now  to  rake  people  over  the  coals  for  doing 
things  which  have  been  recognized  right  along  as  ordinary  good 
business,  but  it  is  fair  to  say  now  that  those  things  are  wrong 
and  that  similar  offences  in  the  future  will  be  punished. 

The  law  should  be  made  extremely  strict  in  railroad  rebate 
cases.  I  do  not  think  a  penitentiary  sentence  is  too  much  for 
the  man  who  give  or  takes  railroad  rebates  when  the  case  is 
perfectly'  clear. 

Any  harm  which  some  of  the  big  companies  may  have  done 
is  but  a  small  thing  compared  with  what  the  medium  and  small 
companies  have  done  when  they  have  felt  that  their  small  size 
would  give  them  an  opportunity  to  escape  notice.  I  feel  that 
the  big  companies  now  and  for  the  past  several  years  have  been 
doing  all  they  possibly  can  to  keep  within  the  letter  and  spirit 
of  the  law  as  they  see  it,  and,  of  course,  no  one  really  does  know 
what  the  law  means  until  his  particular  case  has  been  heard 
by  the  Supreme  Court,  which  method  of  trying  a  man  when 
he  is  right  and  when  he  is  wrong  is  a  farce.  The  law  should 
be  so  plain  that  any  man  of  common  sense  would  know  what  it 
meant,  and  certainly  a  man  should  be  able  to  go  to  his  legal 
advisor  and  find  out  what  he  can  and  cannot  do. 

I  have  just  read  the  Missouri  Court's  action  in  the  Harvester 
case,  and  there  the  Supreme  Court  judge  states  that  the  Har- 
vester Company  has  really  been  a  benefit  to  the  State  of  Mis- 
souri; that  it  has  given  competition;  that  it  has  improved  the 
quality  of  its  manufactured  product,  and  the  price  has  not  been 
raised,  and  that  on  the  whole  the  Harvester  Company  has  been 
a  benefit  to  the  community,  and  yet  fines  it  so  many  dollars 
because  technically  it  is  a  foreign  corporation  organized  to 
"gobble"  business. 

In  my  judgment  it  is  perfectly  foolish  to  call  a  company 
a  monopoly  and  accuse  it  of .  all  the  crimes  in  the  calendar 
simply  because  of  its  size,  or  to  say  that  a  company  shall  not  do 
more  than  40  per  cent,  of  the  business  in  its  line. 


Suppose  there  are  six  companies  in  one  line  of  business. 
One  is  doing  35  per  cent.,  and  the  other  five  have  practically 
an  equal  division,  that  is,  13  per  cent.,  and  one  company  is  so 
disadvantageous^  situated  on  account  of  freight  or  has  had 
bad  management,  so  that  it  cannot  compete  on  reasonable  mar- 
ket prices  and  decides  to  go  into  some  other  line  of  manufac- 
ture, with  which  its  managers  are  better  acquainted,  and  sup- 
pose that  the  bulk  of  its  business  were  taken  by  the  larger 
company,  it  would  immediately  have  over  40  per  cent,  and  then 
become  a  monopoly.  That  is  foolishness !  By  limiting  the  size 
of  a  company's  business  you  limit  honest  endeavor  on  the  part 
of  honest  and  intelligent  people  to  do  their  best. 

The  only  suggestion  I  see  for  the  problem  is  a  national  incor- 
poration act,  with  publicity  and  regulation  and  control,  and  that 
regulation  and  control  should  not  be  by  the  Supreme  Court, 
but  by  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  similar  to  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  for  the  railroads. 

The  newspapers,  especially  the  yellow  press,  and  some  parts 
of  the  general  public  are  insisting  on  the  government  getting 
after  the  business  people.  They  do  not  seem  to  realize  that  it 
is  business  which  brings  in  the  bread  and  butter,  makes  wealth 
and  happiness  when  properly  handled.  There  is  more  harm 
being  done  right  now,  in  my  opinion,  by  the  farmers  and  labor- 
ing men  than  by  the  combinations  among  the.  business  men. 
One  is  as  justifiable  as  the  other.  I  have  always  looked  upon 
the  Steel  Trust  as  a  -good  thing,  and  there  is  only  one  objection 
that  I  can  see  that  anyone  can  raise  against  it,  and  that  is  the 
influence  wielded  by  the  interlocking  of  the  board  of  directors. 

It  is  very  difficult  to  pass  laws  which  will  fit  all  situations, 
and  I  feel  that  our  courts  are  for  the  purpose  of  handling  those 
situations  for  right  and  justice  which  the  law  cannot  always 
be  made  in  advance  to  meet.  Take  the  Missouri  State  Supreme 
Court's  decision  on  the  Harvester  case.  In  my  judgment,  that 
court  made  an  incorrect  decision.  Its  findings  show  that  the 
Harvester  Company  benefited  the  community,  and  yet  the  court 
follows  the  exact  letter  of  the  law  and  penalizes  the  company. 
I  do  not  believe  the  framers  of  the  law  ever  intended  to  penalize 
a  company  when  the  court  found  its  action  such  as  in  this  case. 
It  was  intended  to  punish  the  corporation  which  abused  its 
powers,  attempted  to  raise  prices  and  drive  competitors  out 
of  business  by  unfair  means,  and  the  courts,  in  my  opinion, 
ought  to  recognize  the  intent  of  the  law  and  act  accordingly. 

H.  D.  Fletcher,  Texas  Strainer  Company,  Beaumont,  Texas. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  allow  any  size 
combination,  but  regulated  as  to  prices,  through  some  commis- 
sion, as  the  railroads  are  regulated  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal 
license  law,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


54 

H.  E.  Choate,  Treasurer,  J.  K.  Orr  Shoe  Company,  Atlanta, 
Ga. 

The  word  "  reasonable  "  as  written  into  the  Sherman  Law 
by  the  judiciary,  while  affording  relief  from  an  inflexible  appli- 
cation, creates  a  condition  that  seems  to  me  would  bring  about 
interminable  litigation  as  between  the  government  and  the  cor- 
porations, it  appearing  that  each  case  must  be  settled  upon  its 
particular  merits,  involving  a  judicial  decision  as  to  what  is 
"  reasonable  "  in  each  specific  case. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  such  particulars 
as  will  give  a  square  deal  to  big  business,  as  well  as  to  protect 
the  interests  of  the  smaller  operator.  Where  a  corporation 
secures  control  of  any  commodity  necessary  to  the  comfort  and 
welfare  of  the  people,  that  corporation  should  be  under  closer 
surveillance  and  more  direct  control  of  the  government. 

It  seems  to  me  that  national  incorporation  is  part  of  the 
logical  development  of  big  business,  and  that  soon  or  late  a 
national  incorporation  law  will  be  indispensable.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  in  connection  with  a  national 
incorporation  law. 

The  tariff;  changes  in  political  alignment  in  both  parties, 
in  process  or  threatened;  the  uncertain  status  of  big  business 
in  the  light  of  the  government's  inquisitorial  attitude,  and  the 
reflex  influence -of  disturbances,  either  industrial  or  political,  in 
other  countries,  are  a  few  of  the  causes,  in  my  judgment,  for 
the  present  disturbed  business  conditions. 

Z.   G.   Simmons,   President,  The   Simmons   Manufacturing 
Company,  Brass  and  Iron  Beds,  Kenosha,  Wis* 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  with  the  powers  of  the  commission  clearly 
stated,  and  the  law  so  framed  that  people  doing  business  may 
know  what  is  the  law  and  what  is  not  the  law,  without  spend- 
ing their  entire  income  hiring  lawyers  who  cannot  now  tell  us 
what  is  the  law  and  whether  we  are  criminals  or  good  citizens. 

In  our  judgment,  the  present  disturbed  business  condition 
is  due  entirely  to  too  many  lawyers  making  too  many  laws, 
which  no  lawyers  can  interpret,  whether  they  be  justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court  or  in  lesser  positions.  What  we  require  is  to 
stop  and  take  an  inventory  of  the  laws  we  have  passed  and  throw 
out  about  75  per  cent,  of  them;  then  go  to  work  and  make  the 
other  25  per  cent,  clear,  so  that  they  are  understandable,  and 
then  enforce  them. 

The  Locomobile  Company  of  America,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  or  amended.  Capital 
and  business  men  cannot  tell  what  will  happen  next  regarding 
legislation  and  enforcement  of  anti-trust  laws.  We  should  have 
a  national  incorporation  law. 


D.    L.    Huntington,    President    The    Washington    Water 
Power  Company,  Spokane,  Wash. 

I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable, 
for  the  reason  that  no  act  which  requires  a  specific  interpreta- 
tion of  the  law  for  each  individual  corporation  is  a  sufficiently 
clear  act  to  permit  business  to  be  done  with  sufficient  freedom. 
J  would  not  amend  the  Sherman  Law,  but  repeal  it  and  sub- 
stitute a  new  law,  based  on  broad  business  principles,  such  as 
are  in  effect  in  Germany  and  other  countries,  permitting  the 
consolidation  of  large  interests  in  a  practical  manner,  and  so 
simple  that  the  law  can  be  understood  by  -laymen  as  well  as 
lawyers.  The  large  business  interests  of  the  United  States  should 
have  a  voice  in  the  framing  of  such  a  law. 

With  a  suitable  act  passed  in  place  of  the  Sherman  Act,  I  do 
not  see  the  necessity  of  a  compulsory  national  incorporation 
law.  There  might  be  advantages  in  such  a  law  for  certain  busi- 
nesses, and  a  non-compulsory  act  might  be  advisable.  I  consider 
that  the  principal  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  arc 
the  hammering  which  the  railway  companies  have  had  within 
the  last  few  years  and  are  still  receiving;  the  literal  interpreta- 
tion of  the  Sherman  Act  and  the  great  uncertainty  which 
remains  in  the  mind  of  everyone  as  to  what  ma}^  or  may  not  be 
legally  done;  the  alarm  created  among  millions  of  investors  in 
railroad,  manufacturing  and  other  securities  which  have  been 
and  are  being  persistently  attacked  by  the  government  under 
the  Sherman  Law  and  by  other  means. 

F.  R.  Still,  Secretary  and  Chief  Engineer,  American  Blower 
Company,   Detroit,  Mich. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  replaced  by  some- 
thing else.  There  should  be  an  act  creating  an  industrial  com- 
mission to  prevent  such  evils  as  concerns  going  into  business 
with  inadequate  capital,  the  issuing  of  stock  beyond  reasonable 
assets  and  other  forms  of  crookedness.  Combinations  are  not 
harmful  to  the  greatest  number,  if  compelled  to  deal  fairly  and 
honestly.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  A  fair  and  broad  Federal  incorporation  law 
would  be  a  good  thing  for  all  corporations  doing  an  interstate 
business.  I  also  favor  a  Federal  license  law.  Prosecution  under 
the  Sherman  Act  is  the  principal  cause  of  business  disturbance. 

South  Bend  Chilled  Plow  Company,  South  Bend,  Ind. 

Trust  agitation  and  the  automobile  have  much  to  do  with 
causing  the  present  disturbing  business  conditions.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  make  it  possible  for  capi- 
tal to  combine  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  the  largest  possible 
saving  in  placing  with  the  people  a  commodity  used  by  the 
masses.  A  little  increased  profit  to  a  few  may  mean  a  ^  large 
saving  for  thousands  of  people.  We  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


56 

A.  R.  L.  Dohme,  Vice-President,  Sharp  &  Dohme,  Manu 
facturing  Chemists,  Baltimore,  Md. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  more  spe- 
cific and  concrete,  so  that  the  courts  will  not  have  to  read  some- 
thing into  it,  or  interpret  it  specially  for  practically  every  case 
that  comes  before  them.  The  judiciary  should  not  have  to  legis- 
late in  order  to  make  a  law  effective  or  possible  of  execution. 
Kailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  provided  it  will  super- 
sede all  State  incorporation  laws  for  corporations  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law,  provided  it  super- 
sedes all  State  license  laws  for  corporations  or  firms  doing  inter- 
state business.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with 
powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  fear  of  tariff  tink- 
ering; to  government  attacks  on  corporations,  as  well  as  hold- 
ing the  railroads  between  the  upper  millstone  of  reduced  rates 
and  the  lower  millstone  of  increased  taxes  and  labor  troubles, 
especially  higher  wages  and  strikes. 

The  tariff  should  be  taken  out  of  politics  and  placed  in  the 
hands  of  a  permanent  non-partisan  board  of  acknowledged  ex- 
perts, and  its  provisions  and  operation  should  be  continuous 
and  automatic,  based  on  cold  facts  and  business  sense. 

The  Interstate  Trade  Commission  should  be  authorized  by 
law  to  keep  full  records  of  all  corporations  doing  interstate  busi- 
ness, and  every  such  corporation  should  be  compelled  to  make 
sworn  complete  reports  of  all  its  year's  business  and  financing- 
annually;  and  the  commission  should  first  warn  violating  cor- 
porations, and  if  the  warning  is  unheeded,  then  bring  them  to 
the  bar  of  justice,  and  compel  them  to  undo  the  illegal  acts 
they  may  have  done,  and  keep  them  under  surveillance  in  future. 

John  S.  Clark,  "A  Small  Manufacturer,"  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  permit  large  cor- 
porations to  conduct  business,  even  though  they  do  produce  a 
considerable  part — say,  up  to  60  per  cent.,  or  even  more — of 
the  product,  and  to  enable  them  to  regulate  the  amount  of  their 
product  according  to  demand,  without  being  charged  with  re- 
straint of  trade.  When  a  condition  of  overproduction  or  under- 
consumption exists,  it  should  be  lawful  to  shut  down  plants 
without  being  accused  of  restraining  trade.  I  favor  national 
incorporation  or  Federal  license,  if  in  no  other  way  pernicious 
activity  upon  the  part  of  the.  Federal  government  can  be  ob- 
viated. If,  however,  governmental  prosecutions  could  be  re- 
stricted to  actual  wrongdoing,  rather  than  to  enterprises  of 
magnitude  and  success,  merely  because  of  their  size  and  prosper- 
ity, then  I  answer,  No. 


57 

Joseph  H.  Garaghty,  Chicago,  111. 

I  do  not  consider  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  as 
clear  and  workable.  There  is  also  great  possibility  of  heavy 
loss  to  bona  fide  holders  of  securities  involved.  I  do  not  favor 
mi  unconditional  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Some  changes 
in  the  present  law  are  certainly  indicated,  but  any  change  will 
be  fruitless  until  many  other  laws  are  repealed,  especially  those 
of  a  "special  privilege"  character. 

I  favor  either  a  national  incorporation  law  or  a  Federal 
license  law  or  both,  incidentally,  in'  combination  with  an 
amended  act  to  control  unfair  combination.  I  do  not  favor  an 
interstate  Trade  Commission  to  fix  prices.  It  should  be  em- 
powered to  ascertain  facts  and  give  such  publicity  as  will  serve 
a  more  useful  purpose. 

Primarily,  disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  a 
generation  of  "  special  privilege  "  legislation  and  the  continued 
trend  in  the  same  direction.  Incidentally,  no  banking  system, 
except  one  facilitating  public  plunder;  an  unjust  and  excessive 
expansion  of  debt;  high  tariff;  corrupt  and  wilful  extravagance 
in  public  expenditure,  and  a  general  contempt  for  all,  are  other 
causes.  The  burdens  created  and  growing  under  these  abuses 
are  beginning  to  bear  heavily  on  the  masses;  hence  the  unrest, 
discontent  and  distrust,  higher  cost  of  living  and  reduced  sav- 
ings drive  the  people  to  the  government  for  relief,  as  history 
shows  has  been  the  case  in  the  past.  Result,  all  sorts  of  party 
agitation,  quack  laws,  regulations,  special  privileges,  etc.  A 
golden  opportunity  for  demagogues  and  so-called  "  saviors  of 
their  country.''  That  they  have  not  overlooked  this  is  quite 
evident. 

Martin    A.    Marks,    Secretary    and    Treasurer,    Cleveland 
Worsted  Mills  Company,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

There  should  be  a  permanent  tariff  commission  that,  with- 
out regard  to  influence,-  could  make  changes  gradual  on  each 
item,  having  full  power  to  investigate  and  examine  books,  plants 
and  all  interested.  This  would  restore  confidence  and  would 
l)e  just  to  all.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  tink- 
ering with  legislation,  especially  with  the  tariff,  without  having 
knowledge  of  the  facts;  also  by  the  fear  of  radical  legislation 
that  might  have  a  sudden  and  serious  effect  on  the  business 
interested. 

The  Sherman  Law-  should  be  amended  by  more  clearly  defin- 
ing its  provisions  and  by  appointing  a  commission  similar  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  to  govern  such  corpora- 
tions, the  Secretary  of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor 
to  act  as  chairman.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  Fed- 
oral  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


58 

Allegheny  Steel  Company,  by  R.  D.  Campbell,  Treasurer, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

The  country  is  in  a  condition  of  uneasiness  and  apprehension. 
Unfortunately,  the  average  politician  is  costing  the  country 
enormously  at  present. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  It  is  not 
feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in  business.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended,  but  we  have  not  space  enough 
here  to  go  into  particulars.  Kailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  not 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  Combina- 
tions of  farmers,  to  secure  good  prices  for  their  products,  should 
be  rendered  lawful.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  but 
are  undecided  as  to  Federal  license.  We  do  not  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  Business  disturbance  is  due  to  too 
rapid  a  pace,  followed  by  natural  reaction,  and  the  recovery  de- 
layed by  unwise  and  selfish  politics. 

Judson  G.  Rosebush,  President,  Patten  Paper  Company, 
Ltd.,  etc.,  also  Professor  of  Economics,  Laurence 
College,  Appleton,  Wis. 

Production  has  temporarily  outrun  consumption.  Thus  in 
the  lumber  and  paper  businesses  the  construction  of  new  plants 
has  anticipated  demand.  I  understand  the  same  thing  is  true 
of  other  lines  of  business.  Another  cause  of  business  disturb- 
ance is  a  diversion  of  consumption  from  old  lines  and  channels 
into  new  fields;  for  example,  the  immense  amounts  of  money 
now  spent  on  automobiles  have  changed  the  direction  of  national 
expenditure  to  the  injury  of  the  old  customary  lines.  A  third 
cause  of  business  disturbance  is  timidity  in  the  business  world 
due  to  the  trust  cases,  tariff  discussion,  etc.  Doubtless  also,  to 
some  extent,  a  lessened  power  of  consumption  due  to  the  shorter 
crops,  as  against  two  years  since,  has  added  to  the  unsettled 
condition  of  business. 

W.  B.  Ayers,  President,  Eastern  &  Western  Lumber  Co., 
Portland,  Ore. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  (1)  by  prohibiting 
corporations  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  from  holding  se- 
curities (i.  e.,  stocks  or  bonds)  in  other  corporations  doing  an 
interstate  business;  (2)  by  prohibiting  corporations  doing  an 
interstate  business  from  issuing  securities  in  excess  of  the  actual 
capital  invested;  (3)  by  compelling  those  industrial  corpora- 
tions whose  securities  are  traded  in  on  the  open  market,  or 
whose  business  is  of  trust  proportions,  to  make  public  their 
business  through  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor;  (4) 
by  endowing  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  with 
police  powers  to  enforce  its  provisions  in  the  same  manner  as 
the  internal  revenue  laws  are  enforced. 


59 

James  R.  Keiser,  President,  James  R.  Keiser,  Inc.,  Manu- 
facturer of  Neckwear  and  Handkerchiefs,  New  York 
City. 

Lack  of  consistent  and  uniform  policy  on  the  part  of  the 
government;  the  fear  on  the  part  of  the  business  community 
of  radical  and  ill-advised  legislation  bearing  on  industrial  and 
tariff  matters  are  the  chief  causes  of  business  disquietude.  T 
favor  Federal  license  for  interstate  business.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  define  clearly  what  is  illegal  and  otherwise. 

Although  not  bearing  directly  on  the  subject  of  this  circular, 
I  believe  there  is  no  work  the  Federation  and  other  bodies  can 
favor,  more  important  than  an  adjustment  of  the  tax  laws  into 
something  like  justice  and  reason.  If  we  had  a  stamp  tax, 
this  combined  with  a  levy  on  real  estate  would  work  equitably 
and  honestly  in  the  distribution  of  tax  burdens,  whereas  income 
taxes,  incorporation  taxes  and  personal  taxes  never  have  worked 
justly  and  never  will,  but,  on  the  contrary,  have  been  an  incentive 
to  fraud. 

Frank  C.  Henderson,  President,  F.  C.  Henderson  Company, 
Sewing  Machines,  Pianos,  etc.,  Member  of  the  Boston 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  corrupt  machine  politician,  his  power  and  his  purpose, 
are  now  pretty  well  understood.  Eepresentatives  of  the  people 
who  do  not  represent  them;  the  acceptance  by  the  Senate  of 
such  as  Lorimer  of  Illinois;  the  nomination  of  men  for  office 
who  are  not  business  men;  the  helping  into  office  of  politicians 
of  questionable  character ;  the  widespread  understanding  of  what 
is  "  senatorial  courtesy  " ;  the  tremendous  expenses  of  the  gov- 
ernment— all  largely  contribute  to  the  general  distrust.  Other 
causes  are,  unenforced  law,  particularly  the  criminal  clause  of 
the  anti-trust  law,  creating  lack  of  confidence  in  our  government 
and  distrust  in  lawmakers  and  in  the  courts.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  Federal  license. 

W.  S.  Poling,  President,  Spring  Steel  Fence  and  Wire  Com- 
pany, Anderson,  Ind. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  permit  trade  com- 
binations that -will  embrace  all  conditions  and  protect  against 
unnecessary,  unprofitable,  unlawful  competition. 

My  business  is  affected  by  the  United  States  Steel  Corpora- 
tion, by  its  ability  to  make  a  profit  on  the  production  from  raw 
material  enabling  it  to  sell  wire  fence,  for  instance,  without 
profit  on  wire  products.  There  is  great  danger  in  having  any 
one  corporation  given  such  powers  in  the  commercial  world  as 
the  United  States  Steel  Corporation  is  now  assuming.  The  time 
may  come  when  this  power  will  fall  into  the  hands  of  those 
who  are  not  even  as  kindly  disposed  as  the  Steel  Corporation. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  Federal  license. 


60 

M.  S.  Shaw,  President  and  Treasurer  Boyne  City  Tanning 
Company,  Boyne  City,  Mich. 

Are  business  relations  disturbed?  Capital  is  getting  fair 
interest;  labor  gets  comparatively  good  wages;  the  middleman 
and  the  grafter  get  too  much,  as  they  always  do.  The  pendu- 
lum always  swings  both  ways  and  a  slight  touch  will  allow  it  to 
swing  too  far  on  either  side.  The  adjustment  of  laws  governing 
our  social  and  commercial  life  (under  the  competitive  system) 
are  delicate  and  the  pendulum  should  not  be  touched,  but  every 
effort  used  to  give  to  each  the  result  of  his  efforts.  Neither 
the  competitive  nor  the  co-operative  system  will  do  this,  the 
problem  is  deeper  and  simpler.  Very  few  of  our  laws  are  based 
on  giving  each  citizen  the  reward  of  effort,  although  the  Con- 
stitution proclaims  the  intention.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law.  As  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  my 
preference  would  depend  entirely  on  the  powers  given  to  the 
commission.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates. 

S.  Barnard,  Clothing  Manufacturer,  Boston,  Mass. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  Federal  license.  I 
regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable.  It  should  be 
amended  by  giving  the  large  combinations  reasonable  time  for 
reorganization  or  readjustment. 

In  regard  to  farmers'  combinations  I  have  to  say  that  one  of 
the  potato  dealers  in  Aroostook  County,  Maine,  informs  me 
that  last  year  he  bought  potatoes  in  Maine  for  60  cents  a  barrel 
and  sold  them  in  New  York  for  $2.  This  year  the  crop  is  so 
large  that  the  farmers  have  burned  up  half  of  the  crop,  in 
order  to  maintain  the  high  prices.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the 
cost  of  living  is  high?  What  chance  is  there  for  the  great 
middle  class,  with  the  trust  on  one  side  getting  the  highest 
prices  possible,  and  the  farmers  on  the  other  side  deliberately- 
destroying  their  crops  to  maintain  the  high  prices? 

E.   T.   Weir,   President,  Phillips   Sheet   &   Tin  Plate   Co., 
Weirton,  W.  Va. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  thaif  it  can  be  more 
clearly  determined  what  combinations  are  unlawful,  and  to  what 
extent  competitors  can  work  in  trade  harmony  without  com- 
mitting illegal  acts.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions  are  due  to  change  from  co-operation  to  open 
competition  in  many  lines  of  trade;  overproduction  caused 
by  too  rapid  construction,  and  to  a  general  and  insistent  de- 
mand for  reduced  costs  of  living;  also  to  uncertainty  on  the 
part  of  large  interests  as  to  the  outcome  of  the  movement  to 
make  them  more  susceptible  to  Federal  control  and  supervision. 


61 

H.  E.  Bullock.  President,  Illinois  Malleable  Iron  Company, 
Chicago,  111. 

I  believe  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  to  be  clear 
and  workable.  I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competi- 
tive methods  in  business.  I  do  not  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
Law.  It  should  be  amended,  if  President  Taft  and  his  Cabinet 
wish  it.  As  to  railroads  being  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  this  seems  to  be  the  condition  now.  It  should 
be  lawful  for  farmers  to  combine  to  secure  fair  prices  for  their 
products,  unless  you  allow  finished  goods  to  come  in  free,  and 
with  the  further  proviso  that  when  farm  products  get  above 
certain  predetermined  figures,  like  products  be  admitted  free 
from  other  countries.  Foreign  prices  largely  determine  the  price 
a  farmer  can  obtain  for  his  wheat  and  cotton ;  hence,  protection 
does  not  protect  him  and  he  has  to  pay  for  manufactured  goods 
higher  prices  because  of  protection.  Farmers  should  be  allowed 
to  hold  their  whole  products  as  long  as  they  like,  but  should 
be  punished  for  interfering  with  their  neighbors  who  wish  to 
sell,  and  when  prices  rise  above  the  predetermined  price,  farm 
products  of  like  kind  should  come  in  free  from  abroad. 

To  enable  me  to  answer  intelligently  the  question  relating 
to  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  I  should  like  to  see  an  out- 
line of  the  duties  and  powers  of  such  a  commission.  I  think 
that  disturbed  business  conditions  have  been  principally  caused 
by  the  railroads  holding  off  purchases  to  try  to  compel  the  coun- 
try to  allow  further  advance  in  their  already  too  heavy  freight 
rates. 

D.  S.  Chamberlain,  Ex-President,  Proprietary  Association 
of  America,  Des  Moines,  la. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable, 
but  I  do  not  favor  its  repeal.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  so  as  to  protect  capital,  labor  and  consumer  alike. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  and  am  undecided  as  to 
Federal  license.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with 
power  to  prevent  advances  in  prices,  both  of  labor  and  product, 
and  to  provide  against  extortion— labor,  capital  and  the  consum- 
ers to  be  protected.  Enforcing  the  present  unfair  and  imperfect 
Sherman  Act  is  the  cause  of  business  disturbance. 

It  requires  great  combinations  of  capital  to  successfully  com- 
pete in  foreign  markets.  Once  we  destroy  combinations  of  capi- 
tal the  United  States  would  lose  its  influence  and  a  great  por- 
tion of  its  trade.  The  United  States  would  be  contracting,  not 
expanding. 

I  also  favor  giving  the  Interstate  Trade  Commission  power 
to  dissolve  a  corporation  when  it  is  legally  shown  that  it 
lowor  prices  so  as  to  destroy  a  competitor's  business. 


62 

The  Haydenville  Company  (A.  S.  Hills,  Treasurer),  Manu- 
facturers of  Brass  and  Iron  Goods,  Haydenville, 
Mass. 

We  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  at  all  clear  and  work- 
able. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  either  repealed  or  amended. 
Either  by  amendment  or  through  a  new  law  it  should  be  pro- 
vided that  where  any  manufacturer  cuts  prices  below  reason- 
able cost  to  cover  maintenance  of  plant,  to  pay  full  wages  and 
to  obtain  reasonable  return  on  capital  invested,  the  government 
can  interfere  to  stop  selling  at  a  sacrifice,  for  the  reason  that 
the  aggregate  capital  of  competitors  who  are  pursuing  no  such 
dishonorable  course  is  being  jeopardized,  and  the  branch  of 
trade  that  is  thus  imperilled  is  likely  to  pass  largely  into  for- 
eign hands. 

A  trade  union  should  be  regarded  the  same  as  a  corpora- 
tion, and  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  subject  to  regu- 
lation. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  for  concerns  of  over 
one  million  dollars  capital.  We  also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  our 
judgment,  to  running  business  by  law  when  that  law  was  not 
clear  and  had  not  been  interpreted  correctly  by  an  authorized 
tribunal. 

William  Glattly  (Glattly  Lumber  Company),  Afton,  Iowa. 

Both  organized  capital  and  organized  labor  have  much  to  do 
with  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law,  or  some  other 
law,  ought  to  be  so  framed  that  common  carriers  could  not 
charge  more  for  a  short  than  for  a  long  haul.  There  ought  to 
be  a  law  passed  declaring  it  prima  facie  evidence  of  an  under- 
standing in  restraint  of  trade  when  manufacturers  of  any  given 
commodity,  located  at  various  point?  and  distances,  are  all 
charging  the  same  delivery  price  for  their  product  at  any 
point  which  they  may  cover,  no  matter  what  the  distance  or 
the  cost  of  shipping  to  said  point.  T  favor  a  national  incorpo- 
ration law.  Federal  license  and  nn  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

Abiel  J.  Abbott,  Treasurer,  Abbott  Worsted  Company, 
Graniteville,  Mass. 

Over-production  and  fear  of  the  Sherman  Act  are  causes 
of  business  disturbance.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law, 
and  in  its  place  the  enactment  of  a  Federal  incorporation  law, 
with  supervision.  As  to  trade  unions  and  combinations  of 
farmers,  I  understand  that  industrial  legislation  is  intended  to 
enhance  the  welfare  of  all  the  people.  Therefore  no  classes 
should  have  special  privileges  or  exemption  from  the  operation 
of  any  law.  It  would  be  much  preferable  to  make  a  better 
law  that  would  not  require  any  exception.  I  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 


63 

J.   D.  Forrest,  Economist,  and  General  Manager  Citizens 
Gas  Company,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  covering  interstate  features  of  busi- 
ness only  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  be- 
lieve in  holding  companies.  In  themselves,  no  harm  has  re- 
sulted from  them.  Such  evils  as  exist  could  and  do  exist  under 
.single  corporate  control,  as  well  as  un'der  holding  companies. 
Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with 
by  statutes  forbidding  specific  practices,  so  far  as  common-law 
remedies  are  inadequate.  Full  publicity  renders  the  question 
of  capital  immaterial.  The  only  evil  consists  in  false  representa- 
tions in  selling  securities.  While  publicity  for  commercial  cor- 
porations is  very  desirable,  I  fail  to  see  how  a  commission  to 
regulate  prices,  etc.,  has  anything  to  do  with  the  protection  of 
minority  interests.  A  commission  to  enforce  publicity  is  wholly 
desirable;  one  to  control  business  is  dangerous  and  should  be 
avoided. 

In  addition  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  should  be  added  that  large  concerns  are 
more  likely  to  avoid  the  wastes  of  foolish  and  excessive  competi- 
tion. Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment, 
to  the  attempted  enforcement  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  to  pop- 
ular opposition  to  large  business  enterprises.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  repealed,  unless  further  court  decisions 
show  that  large  corporations  are  permitted  under  it. 

George  M.  Paine  (Paine  Lumber  Company,  Ltd.),  Oshkosh, 
Wis, 

We  most  certainly  approve  of  returning  to  the  old  methods 
of  competitive  business.  A  trail  of  losses  and  disaster  in  the 
way  of  business  has  followed  wherever  the  older  methods  have 
been  interfered  with.  We  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law. 
We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  if  it  would  permit  of 
doing  business  in  any  or  all  of  the  States  without  special  licenses. 
We  favor  a  Federal  license  law  in  some  form  that  will  avoid  the 
necessity  of  securing  forty  or  more  licenses  covering  all  the 
States  of  the  Union.  We  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. We  are  already  burdened  to  death  with  commissions. 
It  must  be  a  wonder  to  sensible  men  how  the  business  of  the 
country  can  stand  up  under  the  various  forms  of  persecution 
that  the  legislative  branches  of  the  government  have  wasted 
valuable  time  in  formulating. 

We  consider  that  present  disturbed  conditions  are  largely,  if 
not  entirely,  due  to  the  agitation  and  uncertainty  caused  by  the 
political  disturbances  provoked  and  fostered  by  the  "outs""  to 
get  the  fat  and  honorable  places  of  the  "ins'."  Some  of  the 
disturbed  conditions  are  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  unnecessary 
pursuing  of  combinations  of  capital  called  "trusts." 


64 

F.  W.  Pilsbry,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager  Santa 
Fe  Car  Icing  Company,  Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  business  men 
will  know  what  they  can  do.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  cer- 
tainly not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act; 
it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the  entire  business  interests 
of  the  country  that  unions  be  amenable  to  the  same  laws  as  other 
business  combinations.  We  favor  national  incorporation  and 
Federal  license. 

The  principal  cause  of  business  disturbance  is  the  uncer- 
tainty of  the  business  world  as  to  the  attitude  of  the  United 
States  government  toward  large  corporations  and  as  to  the  out- 
come of  the  suits  brought  and  to  be  brought  against  corporations. 
There  are  other  causes,  such  as  the  coming  presidential  elec- 
tion and  the  uncertainty  regarding  a  tariff  policy.  "With  the 
Sherman  Law  so  amended  so  that  the  corporations  would  know 
what  is  legal  and  proper  for  them  to  do,  and  with  a  fixed  tariff 
revision  policy,  the  business  of  the  country  will  go  ahead. 

George  A.  Laughlin,  President  Cleveland  Axle  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  and  President  Cleveland-Canton  Spring 
Company,  Canton,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law,  in  my  judgment,  is  clear  and  workable. 
I  regard  it  as  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in 
business,  but  between  larger  competitive  units.  Eailroads  should 
not  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  com- 
binations of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a 
crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  rendered  lawful.  Trade 
unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Act.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  In  my  judgment,  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions  are  due  to  inflation,  to  production,  excepting 
farm  product?,  in  excess  of  consumption. 

H.  R.  Kingman,  Manager  Yakima  Branch,  Pacific  Power 
&  Light  Company,  North  Yakima,  Wash. 

I  believe  the  flagrant  exhibition  of  avaricious  greed  by  some 
large  corporations  and  those  in  control  of  great  wealth  has 
aroused  in  the  general  public  the  primeval  instinct  to  smash 
and  destroy,  and  as  soon  as  they  can  be  shown  the  better  way, 
by  such  illustrious  examples  as  afforded  by  the  methods  being 
used  in  the  State  of  Wisconsin  (that  pioneer  that  is  blazing  the 
way),  reason  and  judgment  will  be  used  in  solving  the  problem, 
and  stable  and  prosperous  conditions  will  return. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  modified  to  recognize  regulated 
natural  monopolies  and  efficient  combination  for  economical  pro- 
duction. Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


(55 

Fenton  Lawson,  President  The  F.  H.  Lawson  Company, 
Sheet  Metal  Goods,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  a  fake  pure  and  simple,  passed  by  a 
protectionist  Congress  to  shield  trusts  from  free-trade  agitation. 
We  favor  unconditionally  repealing  it. 

Pending  unconditional  repeal  of  the  act,  trade  unions  cer- 
tainly should  be  exempt  from  its  operation.  Members  of  trade 
unions,  unlike  members  of  monopolistic  trust  organizations,  have 
no  special  privilege  conferred  by  government.  There  is,  conse- 
quently, a  fundamental  difference  between  labor  organizations 
and  trusts.  Farmers'  combinations  should  be  rendered  lawful 
under  the  Sherman  Act.  There  will  be  business  disturbance  as 
long  as  a  favored  few  enjoy  the  legalized  privilege  of  looting 
the  rest.  Protective  tariffs,  private  monopoly  of  highways,  mo* 
nopolization  of  natural  resources,  patent  monopolies,  special 
privilege  given  national  banks  to  issue  money  and  all  taxes  on 
labor  and  labor  products — all  enable  some  to  appropriate  the 
earnings  of  others  without  adequate  return.  While  these  evils 
are  allowed  to  last,  there  will  be  disturbance  and  depression 
periodically  occurring. 

Delos  A.  Chappell,  President  The  Nevada  California  Power 
Company,  Los  Angeles,  Cal. 

T  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  if  properly  restricted  to 
constitutional  rights  and  not  permeated  with  the  idea  that  Fed- 
eral bureau  control  should  be  paramount  to  the  law. 

The  present  disturbed  conditions  are  caused  by  the  efforts 
which  have  been  made  and  are  still  being  made  by  certain  de- 
partments and  bureaus  of  the  national  government  to  control 
national  affairs  by  "rules  and  regulations''  which,  in  a  great 
measure,  transgress  and  override  the  law.  By  false  and  fanatical 
theories  the  masses  have  been  led  to  believe  that  their  rights 
have  been  trampled  upon  and  that  corporations  per  se  are  crim- 
inals. Capital  and  labor  must  be  brought  into  harmony,  and 
the  strength  of  the  nation,  through  its  departments  and  bureaus, 
should  uphold  the  law  and  not  cater  to  the  clamor  of  public 
opinion,  which  may  endanger  the  lives  and  property  of  law- 
abiding  citizens. 

H.  R.  Morrow,  President  Morrow,  Thomas  Hardware  Com- 
pany, Amarillo,  Tex. 

The  views  voiced  by  Colonel  Roosevelt  in  his  recent  article 
on  the  regulation  of  trusts  coincide  with  my  views  exactly.  Let 
them  exist,  but  regulate  them.  I  think  the  management  of  the 
United  States  Steel  Corporation  is  a  good  illustration  of  a  good 
trust,  This  does  not  apply  to  their  organization,  however.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  by  substituting  a  new  law 
giving  greater  control  of  corporations.  I  favor  national  incor- 
poration, Federal  license  and  an  Inter.state  Trade  Commission, 


66 

Ira  Dimock,  President,  The  Nonotuck  Silk  Company,  Flor- 
ence, Mass. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  in  its  present  form. 
I  am  not  prepared  to  express  an  opinion  as  to  national  incor- 
poration, Federal  license,  or  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused,  in  my  judgment, 
partially  by  the  prosecution  or  threatened  prosecution  of  cor- 
porations that  have  built  up  a  large  and  prosperous  business, 
together  with  the  desire  of  manufacturers  and  merchants  to 
reduce  their  stock,  fearing  a  change  in  the  tariff  may  necessitate 
lowering  the  wages  of  employes,  thus  causing  strikes  and  the 
upsetting  of  business.  We  believe  that,  as  a  rule,  consumers 
have  benefited  by  the  ability  of  large  corporations  to  produce 
and  market  commodities  at  lower  rates  than  small  manufac- 
turers, with  antiquated  tools  and  methods,  are  able  to.  Nothing- 
can,  in  our  opinion,  reconcile  progressive  people  to  go  back  to 
wheelbarrows  and  tallow  dips. 

Pike  Manufacturing  Company,  Pike,  N.  H. 

We  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  or  such  amendment  as 
will  permit  combinations  and  consolidations  that  will  result  in 
increased  efficiency  and  economy  of  operation  under  such  Fed- 
eral regulation  as  will  give  the  widest  and  most  equitable  dis- 
tribution of  the  resulting  benefits.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval 
and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

We  prefer  uniform  State  incorporation  laws,  with  the  privi- 
lege of  taking  out  a  Federal  license  at  option  of  incorporate!'. 
We  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not 
unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

In  our  judgment  business  disturbance  is  caused  by  an  exag- 
gerated apprehension  of  highly  improbable  results  from  troubles 
that  are  largely  imaginary,  due  to  the  confused  state  of  political, 
social  and  financial  conditions. 

E.   A.   Pettersen    (Potlatch   Lumber   Company),   Pomeroy, 
Wash. 

Make  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  explicit  by  stipulating 
beyond  doubt  what  is  lawful  and  what  is  not.  The  "rule  of 
reason  "  idea  will  be  the  football  of  unscrupulous  lawyers  on 
which  they  will  climb  to  riches,  while  legitimate  business  is 
paralyzed  and  groping  in  darkness  and  despair,  trying  to  reach 
the  harbor  of  safety  through  constant  litigation.  I  favor  a 
Federal  license  law,  provided  it  is  added  to  State  license,  but 
in  no  case  unless  a  corporation  controls  fifty  per  cent,  of  the 
total  product  in  which  it  is  engaged.  I  also  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  but  it  should  not  bar  the  States  from  exer- 
(•i-ini:  thoir  power  within  their  own  boundaries. 


87 

The  F.  E.  Kohler  Company,  Manufacturers  of  Hardware 
Specialties,  Canton,  Ohio. 

A  law  along  the  Hues  of  the  Sherman  Act  would  appear 
necessary  to  curb  greedy  corporations  from  using  any  sort  of 
method  to  ruin  competitors;  to  prevent  the  advancing  of  prices 
on  any  commodity  beyond  a  reasonable,  profitable  market  price ; 
also  to  prevent  the  reduction  of  prices  by  combination,  pur- 
posely and  manifestly  to  crush  a  competitor.  It  should  be  made 
to  apply  to  any  corporation  (whether  for  profit  or  not)  or  body 
of  men  who  combine  to  raise  wages  beyond  the  law  of  supply 
and  demand,  and  who  carry  out  their  aims  by  force,  annoyance, 
ostracism,  boycott,  shotgun  and  dynamite. 

Corporations  like  the  Steel  Trust  (so  called)  are  beneficial 
rather  than  harmful.  In  this  case,  while  prices  have  been  kept 
uniform  they  have  not  been  excessive;  neither  have  they  been 
cut  to  drive  competitors  out  of  business;  on  the  contrary,  com- 
petitors (or  independents)  have  been  able  to  prosper.  TJnless 
the  corporation  receives  a  reasonable  profit  on  its  output,  it 
cannot  pay  fair  wages,  which  in  turn  affects  the  merchants. 
Cut-throat  competition  benefits  no  one  in  the  long  run. 

Frank  J.  Enger,  Enger  Motor  Car  Company,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 

I  believe  the  trusts  and  combinations  are  the  cause  of  the 
present  disturbed  conditions.  I  do  not  believe  in  trusts,  and 
think  that  the  people  in  Washington  have  also  learned  this  and 
are  trying  to  put  a  stop  to  them.  If  some  of  the  heads  of  those 
great  organizations  were  sent  to  prison,  instead  of  being  fined 
(if  fined,  the  common  people  pay  in  the  end  anyhow),  it  would 
put  an  end  to  this  long-drawn-out  litigation  and  make  them 
obey  the  law.  If  they  violate  the  laws  of  this  country  they 
should  be  sent  to  prison  the  same  as  other  common  citizens  of 
this  country,  and  if  they  are  not  breaking  any  laws  they  should 
be  left  alone  and  not  have  Washington  create  a  disturbance, 
resulting  in  nothing  but  ruination.  It  is  conclusions  that  we  all 
want,  and  putting  an  end  to  uncertainty  as  quickly  as  possible, 
and  not  delaying  the  matter  in  the  courts  three  or  four  years, 
will  settle  the  conditions  of  this  country  and  let  the  people  know 
where  they  stand.  If  the  trusts  are  violating  the  laws,  imprison- 
ment will  stop  it  mighty  quickly.  Fines  have  no  effect. 

W.    H.    McCurdy,   President,    Hercules   Buggy    Company, 
Evansville,  Ind. 

I  am  President  of  the  Hercules  Buggy  Company  and  am 
considered  a  successful  business  man.  My  volume  is  $2,500,000 
per  annum,  and  want  to  say:  If  Congress  would  convene,  pass 
reasonable  appropriation  measures,  then  adjourn  and  permit  the 
country  to  catch  up  with  the  laws  already  passed,  business 
would  soon  reach  a  normal  condition. 


68 

A.  H.  Gaffney,  President,  American  Plate  Glass  Company, 
Kane,  Penn. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  attitude  of  the 
Department  of  Justice  rigidly  enforcing  the  Sherman  Act,  which 
is  not  amenable  to  present  business  conditions  and,  in  my  judg- 
ment, is  obsolete  at  this  present  day  and  date.  If  the  Sherman 
Act  cannot  be  repealed  I  would  favor  a  modification  of  same 
to  the  extent  that  a  commission  be  appointed,  either  under  the 
Treasury  Department,  or  making  a  new  department  for  same, 
which  would  allow  the  industries  to  consolidate,  if  necessary 
having  inspectors  the  same  as  our  present  bank  examiners,  with 
full  power  to  examine  the  books  of  the  different  corporations 
and  allowing  said  corporations  to  have  sufficient  leeway,  par- 
ticularly in  the  manufacturing  lines,  to  make  a  profit,  say,  not 
to  exceed  25  per  cent,  on  the  money  invested.  I  should  be 
pleased  to  go  before  a  committee,  representing  our  interests, 
and  at  least  think  that  we  should,  for  the  amount  of  money 
invested  in  the  plate-glass  business,  have  a  representative  at 
said  hearing.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

C.  D.    Mitchell,  President,  Chattanooga    Plow    Company, 
Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

Our  country  has  fought  out  the  question  of  patriotism  and 
won.  As  against  segregation  and  human  slavery  the  nation 
decided  for  unity  and  liberty.  But  the  battle  is  now  on  between 
capital  and  labor.  We  call  it  commercialism.  It  is  to  decide 
whether  men  or  money  shall  rule.  In  the  struggle  we  are  nearly 
forgetting  that  God  rules. 

We  could  find  valuable  lessons  and  precedents  by  studying 
the  history  of  empires  that  had  the  same  experiences  long  ago 
and  have  passed  away,  but  we  probably  will  not  heed  them. 
History  is  repeating  itself. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  change  from 
politics  to  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  so 
plain  that  a  violator  will  know  when  he  violates  it. 

S.  D.  Jones,  President,  Atlanta  Stove  Works,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  ruthless  man- 
ner in  which  trusts  and  combinations  have  handled  commerce. 
Remedial  legislation  is  now  well  nigh  impossible  to  be  enforced 
against  25  billions  of  trusts  and  combinations.  The  proper 
thing  to  do  is  to  remove  the  cause,  which  is  the  high  tariff,  and 
then  enforce  the  remedies. 

It  was  said  that  in  a  certain  institution  for  the  insane  they 
had  a  large  tank  into  which  they  turned  a  spigot  of  water  and 
set  the  patient  to  bailing  it  dry.  The  evidence  of  retuminjr 
reason  was  that  the  patient  would  first  turn  off  the  spigot  of 
water  flowing  in.  Now,  the  government  should  first  turn  off 
the  spigot  and  then  bail  the  tank  dry. 


69 

G.  D.  Crabbs,  President,  The  Philip  Carey  Manufacturing 
Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

I  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law ;  or,  if  it  is  to  be  amended, 
it  should  permit  the  maintaining  of  reasonable  prices,  with 
government  regulation,  by  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
business.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  providing  manufacturers  and  other  industries 
are  given  the  same  privilege  of  entering  into  agreements  affect- 
ing prices  on  their  products,  so  as  to  permit  the  paying  of  a 
reasonable  interest  on  investment.  I  favor  by  all  means  a 
national  incorporation  law,  and  a  Federal  license  law,  if  there 
is  any  way  under  a  Federal  incorporation  law  to  prevent  unjust 
license  fees  and  taxes  among  the  several  States.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  .unlike  those  now 
enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to 
common  carriers.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in 
my  judgment,  to  continual  political  agitation  against  railroads, 
corporations,  and  big  business  interests. 

United  States  Safe  Company  (E.  P.  Kennedy,  Secretary), 
Elizabeth,  Pa. 

The  present  disturbed  business  conditions,  in  our  opinion, 
are  caused  by  circumstances  of  long  standing;  which  we  believe 
have  resulted  in  too  much  to  the  few  and  too  little  to  the  many, 
and  we  believe  that  the  tendency  is  to  rectify  this  situation. 

We  consider  that  the  Sherman  Law  can  remain  as  at  present, 
but  that  a  Federal  License  Law  should  be  enacted,  and  that  all 
corporations  doing  an  interstate  business  should  be  required  to 
incorporate  under  a  Federal  law,  and  be  subject  to  a  department 
at  Washington  similar  to,  or  incorporated  in,  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  or  a  Bureau  of  Corporations;  that  these 
corporations  should  be  under  the  immediate  supervision  of  the 
national  government,  the  same  as  the  railroads  are  as  regards  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission;  that  all  corporations,  when 
taking  out  a  Federal  license,  should  be  required  to  show  value, 
and  that  no  increase  of  indebtedness  of  any  kind  should  be 
made  without  the  consent  of  the  Supervising  Bureau. 

Edmund  H.  Sears,  American  Felt  Company,  Boston,  Mass. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  tariff,  corporation  prosecutions,  etc.. 
have  made  everyone  timid.  All  speculative  buying  of  mer- 
chandise for  future  requirements  has  stopped,  and  manufacturers 
and  distributors  have  been  liquidating  stocks  without  replenish- 
ing. This  has  not  been  forced  liquidation  from  over-expansion, 
but  slow  liquidation  from  timidity.  It  has  resulted  in  lowering 
prices,  and  in  reality  has  probably  saved  us  from  later  forced 
liquidation. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  replaced  by  an  altogether  new 
law  laying  down  clearly  what  is  illegal.  I  favor  national  incor- 
poration. 


70 

McCrum-Howell  Company,  Manufacturers  Boilers,  Radiat- 
ors, etc.,  and  Vacuum  Cleaning  System,  New  York 
City. 

Too  much  political  haranguing  by  those  who  don't  know; 
loo  much  muckraking  for  six  years  past;  too  much  magazine 
poison  from  the  pens  of  those  who  don't  know;  too  much  envy 
and  jealousy  aroused  thereby;  too  much  suspicion  and  distrust 
of  public  men;  too  much  "hanging  back"  to  see  what  is  going 
to  happen;  too  much  prosecution  under  the  Sherman  Law; 
not  enough  confidence  in  the  present  or  future  to  lead  one  to 
undertake  anything,  big  or  little — all  tend  to  cause  business 
disturbance.  There  has  been  an  attempted  national  and  State 
moral  housecleaning,  and  the  dust  from  the  vigorous  sweeping 
has  not  yet  settled.  Judge  Gary  has  the  best  ideas  and  shows 
the  highest  type  of  good  sense,  good  business  morals  and  good 
business  statesmanship.  He  is  hampered  by  the  present  agita- 
tion which  is  kept  up  by  those  who  don't  know  and  could  not 
improve  on  his  ways. 

The  Yale  &  Towne  Manufacturing  Company,  New  York. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  tariff,  uncertainty  as  to  the  effect  of 
changed  political  control  in  Congress,  approach  of  the  Presi- 
dential election,  uncertainty  of  the  ultimate  application  of  the 
Sherman  Law,  especially  as  affecting  minor  trade  associations 
as  distinguished  from  large  holding  companies  and  mergers — 
all  tend  to  disturb  business  conditions. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  define  with  reason- 
able clearness,  either  the  things  forbidden,  the  things  permitted, 
or  both ;  preferably  by  a  new  act  defining  the  intent  of  the  Sher- 
man Law,  leaving  the  original  act  untouched.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  within 
reasonable  limits. 

We  are  ready  to  give  serious  and  careful  consideration  to  a 
national  incorporation  law,  and  to  the  plan  for  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  when  formulated. 

W.  A.  B.  Dalzell,  President,  Fostoria  Glass  Company, 
Moundsville,  W.  Va. 

Business  this  year  is  in  good  condition,  except  where  it  has 
been  disturbed  by  tariff  agitation,  or  upset  by  threatened  prose- 
cution or  actual  prosecution  by  the  Federal  authorities.  We  do 
business  in  every  State  of  the  Union.  It  has  been  excellent 
and  would  continue  all  right  if  left  alone. 

Change  the  tariff,  and  values  will  be  changed  to  meet  the 
change  in  tariff,  The  period  of  unrest  while  this  change  is  being 
effected  is  usually  called  a  panic  and  blamed  on  the  shortage  of 
money,  etc.  Merchants  won't  buy  on  a  falling  market.  Manu- 
facturers can't  operate  long  unless  they  sell  their  goods.  When 
they  quit  manufacturing  }^ou  have  an  army  of  idle  workmen 
with  no  purchasing  power.  Consequently  everybody  liquidates 
— nothing  else  to  do.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 


G.  W.  Caswell,  Treasurer,  N.  W.  Manufacturing  Company, 
Manufacturers  of  Wagons,  etc.,  Fort  Atkinson,  Wis. 

The  country  is  disgusted  with  political  agitation.  It  is  the 
contention  for  office  by  too  many  of  those  who  are  unworthy  to 
hold  office  that  is  largely  the  cause  of  present  disturbed  condi- 
tions in  business.  If  Congress  and  the  legislatures  could  adjourn 
for  a  year  or  two,  conditions  would  change  for  the  better.  The 
fear  of  radical  legislation,  fostered  and  promoted  by  some  cheap 
politicians,  is  keeping  the  whole  country  unsettled.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  in  order  to  have  legitimate  corpora- 
tions. Why  should  Wisconsin  have  an  obnoxious  incorporation 
law  which  can  be  avoided  in  our  individual  case  by  going  a  few 
miles  south  to  Illinois? 

The  intent  and  purpose  of  the  Sherman  Law  seems  clear, 
and  we  believe  the  government  is  trying  to  maintain  it.  It 
should  not  be  repealed  entirely,  but  should  be  amended  so  as 
to  provide  that  if  a  trust  in  any  commodity  does  exist  and  is  so 
proven,  let  it  alone  as  long  as  the  prices  are  reasonable.  Steel 
and  oil  have  never  been  so  cheap  and  staple  as  to-day,  and  be- 
cause the  corporations  controlling  did  not  dare  to  ask  high  prices, 
fearing  legislation. 

C.  G.  Freck,  General  Manager,  The  Pennsylvania  Lumber 
Company,  Sheffield,  Pa. 

When  the  American  Tobacco  Company  is  restrained  from 
selling  its  own  products  direct  to  consumers  and  retail  lumber 
men  are  indicted  for  trying  to  prevent  the  manufacturers  from 
doing  the  same  thing;  when  the  governors  of  five  States  meet 
with  legislators  and  farmers  to  take  action  towards  holding  for 
15-cent  cotton,  and  objection  is  taken  to  "  Gary  dinners  "  for 
the  promotion  of  the  steel  trade,  and  lumbermen  and  other  pro- 
ducers are  afraid  to  be  seen  in  any  numbers  in  the  same  city, 
for  fear  of  suits  in  "restraint  of  trade,"  the  absurdity  of  the 
whole  thing  is  apparent.  General  uncertainty  as  to  who  will 
be  the  next  and  other  lack  of  knowledge  as  to  what  for,  are  the 
causes  just  now  of  disturbed  conditions. 

My  first  choice  is  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission;  my 
second,  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  my  third,  Federal 
license.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  or  amended  so 
that  it  will  specifically  show  what  is  or  what  is  not  criminal  or 
detrimental. 

Meriden  Cutlery  Company,  Manufacturers  of  Table  Cutlery, 
.Meriden,  Conn. 

We  never  can  return  to  old  methods.  We  fail  to  see  where 
the  United  Steel  Co.  or  Standard  Oil  Co.,  or  like  combination, 
have  ever  hurt  the  trade  or  the  ultimate  consumer.  We  think 
it  should  be  possible  foi»  manufacturers  to  legally  combine  to 
i*p£iilatp  prices. 


72 

Robert     Chapman,     President,     Marlboro     Cotton     Mills, 
McColl,  S.  C. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  the  aftermath  of  the  busi- 
ness collapse  of  1907,  which,  through  the  efforts  of  large  capi- 
talists, was  remedied  on  a  fictitious  basis  and  not  a  sound  one; 
but  the  chief  reason  is  the  higher  and  consequently  more  ex- 
pensive standard  of  living,  as  now  desired  by  people  in  every 
walk  of  life,  from  the  poorest  to  the  highest.  Behind  this, 
again,  is  our  now  feeling  with  no  uncertain  effect  the  drift  of 
the  past  years  of  population  from  country  to  town,  thus  reduc- 
ing the  supply  of  food  and  clothing  raw  materials;  the  pass- 
ing of  our  country  from  an  agricultural  to  a  manufacturing  one. 

The  present  unrest  is  world-wide  and  is  based  on  the  same 
foundation,  the  stern  fight  of  the  common  people  for  improve- 
ment in  their  living  every-day  condition,  the  effect  of  the  diffu- 
sion of  general  knowledge.  In  time,  by  efforts  wisely  adopted, 
affairs  will  finally  right  themselves,  just  as  in  the  emerging  of 
the  peoples  of  Europe  from  the  dark  ages  into  that  of  the 
renaissance,  the  Elizabethan  and  Napoleonic. 

The  governments  of  the  world  must  realize  that  they  are  the 
instruments  of  humanity,  and  not  humanity  of  them.  AYe  need 
more  righteousness  and  less  greed. 

I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

C.  J.  Felber,  President,  The  E.  R.  Barron  Company,  La 
Crosse,  Wis. 

The  uncertainty  of  what  each  new  Congress  is  going  to  do 
— and  the  fact  that  our  present  laws  are  liable  to  be  changed 
with  every  new  Congress — has  much  to  do  with  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions.  If  Congress  would  adjourn  for  ten  years  we 
would  be  the  greatest  business  country  in  the  world;  we  would 
be  a  happy  people;  and  even  the  politicians  would  then  see 
that  we  have  too  many  laws  and  would  insist  on  Congress  ad- 
journing ten  years  more. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable.  Make  it  the  law 
for  thirty  years  more ;  then  business  interests  would  adapt  them- 
selves to  it,  and  we  would  get  rid  of  the  continual  unrest.  Rail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  As  to  the  advantages 
claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  we  endorse 
the  claims,  for  we  know,  the  more  a  commodity  is  handled 
the  more  the  ultimate  cost  to  the  consumer  who,  after  all,  must 
pay  the  increased  expenses.  I  prefer  Federal  license  for  cor- 
porations doing  an  interstate  business,  and  government  regula- 
tion of  capitalization;  also  publicity,  to  be  applied  to  commer- 
cial corporations.  As  to  the  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  I 
sometimes  think  we  are  getting  too*  many  commissions  which 
are  more  an  added  expense  than  a  benefit. 


73 

Clinton  Crane  (C.  Crane  &  Co.,  Manufacturers  and  Dealers 
in  Hardwood  Lumber),  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

It  is  simply  a  mockery  of  good  business  sense  the  way  things 
have  been  handled  in  Washington  in  the  last  few  years.  We 
have  a  committee  of  men  up  there  spending  lots  of  money  try- 
ing to  find  out  why  it  costs  more  to  live  in  this  country  than 
in  other  countries,  and  there  is  only  one  answer  to  that,  and  it 
is  tariff.  They  add  35  per  cent,  and  40  per  cent,  to  goods  just 
to  keep  out  foreign  goods;  while  on  the  other  hand  we  should 
be  making  goods  for  the  world,  as  we  can  make  twice  the  amount 
of  goods,  or  articles,  than  any  other  country  can  per  man.  Take 
off  the  tariff  and  let  the  old  competitive  methods  of  business 
return,  and  we  shall  have  a  glorious  and  prosperous  country. 

We  are  hardwood  lumber  dealers,  and  have  been  in  the  busi- 
ness for  forty  years,  and  I  think  that  the  tariff  has  cost  us 
not  less  than  $25,000  or  $30,000  a  year.  For  instance,  we  want 
to  buy  some  rope,  we  use  a  very  large  amount  of  that  for 
handling  our  timber  in  the  river,  now  we  pay  about  double  the 
amount  the  rope  is  worth,  which  would  not  be  the  case  if  there 
was  no  tariff.  Twenty  years  ago  we  could  load  and  stock  our 
lumber  at  $5  per  thousand,  and  to-day  it  costs  about  $12,  over 
half  of  that  difference  is  caused  by  high  wages  and  high  living, 
and  I  contribute  that  solely  to  tariff.  Take  off  the  tariff  and 
give  us  the  world  for  our  markets.  The  tariff  on  woolen  goods 
is  simply  outrageous  and  should  be  taken  off,  as  well  as  on 
steel  and  iron,  which  are  the  foundation  of  this  country,  also 
on  raw  materials  and  manufactured  goods.  It  would  do  no 
good  to  take  it  off  raw  materials,  if  they  do  not  take  it  off  manu- 
factured articles.  The  tariff  on  manufactured  materials  sup- 
ports the  trust;  take  that  off  and  the  trusts  will  not  hurt  us. 

C.  F.  Bragg,  President,  N.  A.  Bragg  &  Sons,  Iron  and 
Steel  Merchants,  and  Irons  Pulp  and  Paper  Com- 
pany, Bangor,  Me. 

I  do  not  see  why  combinations  should  be  prohibited  to  mer- 
chants and  manufacturers  and  allowed  to  farmers  and  trade 
unions.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  opinion, 
to  a  certain  extent  to  supply  and  demand,  and  to  a  limited 
extent  to  the  uncertainties  in  regard  to  the  interpretation  of  the 
Sherman  Law.  The  "reasonable"  interpretation  of  the  Sher- 
man Law  seems  to  be  vague.  The  law  ought  to  be  amended  only 
so  far  as  to  make  clear  what  is  reasonable  and  unreasonable 
restraint  of  trade.  I  am  not  in  favor  of  attempting  to  return 
to  old  competitive  methods  to  the  extent  of  preventing  large 
combinations,  honestly  capitalized  and  conducted.  I  favor  na- 
tional incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  The  government  should  regulate  capitali- 
zation, and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corpora- 
lions. 


74 

T.  J.  Breslin,  Farmer,  Manufacturer,  Salesman  and  Member 
of  the  Firm  of  A.  &  M.  Karagheusian,  Freehold, 
N.J. 

The  high  tariff  is  greatly  to  blame  for  the  periodical  depres- 
sions in  business.  The  high  duties  overstimulate  business,  and 
consequently,  when  times  are  good,  too  much  machinery  is  put 
to  work,  and  soon  there  is  overproduction.  The  immediate 
cause  of  the  dulness  now  prevailing  is  the  uncertainty  as  to  what 
is  going  to  be  done  with  the  tariff.  Everybody  is  waiting  to  see 
what  is  going  to  happen  in  Washington.  The  States  can  and 
should  regulate  matters  of  incorporation.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  to  permit  combinations  of  business  interests, 
providing  such  combine  makes  for  economy  in  production  and 
distribution,  but  not  to  create  monopolies.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 
Farmers  should  be  permitted  to  combine  to  hold  their  crops  for 
higher  prices,  but  they  should  not  be  permitted  to  combine  to 
restrict  production.  We  will  always  have  competition  in  farm 
products.  Ours  being  such  a  large  country,  there  is  no  danger 
of  all  the  farmers  combining. 

E.  O.  Smith,  Director  in  a  Manufacturing  and  Jobbing 
Corporation,  Storrs,  Conn. 

The  present  situation  is  intolerable;  but  the  way  out  is  to  go 
forward.  It  is  often  better  to  push  the  arrow  through  than  to 
pull  it  out.  The  whole  question  is  that  of  the  capacity  of  the 
people  at  large  to  control.  If  consolidated  industry  cannot  be 
made  to  serve  American  ideas,  it  must  be  replaced  by  some- 
thing that  will.  But  the  next  thing  will  be  a  new  thing:  So- 
cialism more  probably  than  a  return  to  the  day  of  small  things. 
I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state commerce;  also  constitutional  changes,  if  necessary,  to 
permit  the  practically  absolute  control  by  the  Federal  govern- 
ment of  the  organization  and  conduct  of  any  corporation  which 
does  interstate  business.  To  deal  with  the  exploitation  of  pro- 
ducers and  consumers,  I  favor  the  creation  of  administrative 
bodies  to  restrain  excesses,  with  restrictive  right  of  appeal  to 
the  courts.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and 
publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations  through 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Sieg  Iron  Company,  Davenport,  Iowa. 

We  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business.  We  believe  in  holding  companies.  We  regard 
the  Sherman  Act  as  sufficient  to  deal  with  unfair  competition 
and  restraint  of  trade.  Overcapitalization  should  be  prohibited 
by  law,  as  the  cause  of  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  We  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


75 

Edward  E.  Hughes,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager  of 
the  Franklin  Steel  Company,  Franklin,  Pa. 

To  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  I  say — No.  Add  to  it 
government  supervision — the  old  common  law  visitation — and 
compelled  publicity.  If  it  would  bring  the  proper  results,  let 
us  have  an  industrial  commission.  Except  trade  unions  from 
the  Sherman  Act?  Most  certainly  not,,  unless  the  party  in 
power  wishes  to  tie  up  the  labor  vote,  and  make  the  law  un- 
constitutional by  favoring  a  special  interest.  I  am  not  pre- 
pared to  say  that  a  national  incorporation  law  is  necessary  for 
all  corporations,  but  I  think  it  would  solve  the  difficulties  of 
the  great  combinations. 

What  causes  disturbed  business  conditions?  The  continued 
menace  of  political  parties.  Both  parties  have  been  playing 
football  with  our  industrial  business  in  an  effort  to  make  a 
"touchdown"  for  party  advantage.  Neither  party  seems  to 
care  about  the  effect  its  kicking  has  on  the  ball  (industrial 
business) . 

Personally  speaking,  I  am  glad  to  see  the  National  Civic 
Federation  taking  a  hand  in  the  great  business  issue.  It's  time 
you  did.  I  don't  believe  the  populistic,  radical,  so-called 
Progressives,  have  all  the  brains  there  is,  or  any  monopoly  of 
virtue.  I  don't  believe  they  have  all  the  courage,  although  at 
times  it  looks  like  it.  I  am  prepared  to  help  and  to  assist  in  the 
trial  of  the  case  that  will  forever  divorce  business  from  politics, 
and  I  think  it  time  for  all  business  interests  to  get  together 
and,  figuratively  speaking,  take  clubs,  and  every  time  they  see 
a  La  Follette  head,  smash  it. 

While  we  are  waiting  for  your  Federation  to  do  something, 
we  each  dav  are  taking  into  prayerful  consideration  what  a 
day  may  bring  forth. 

Geo.  W.  Tiedemann,  Charles  Tiedemann  Milling  Company, 
O'Fallon,  111. 

I  think  present  disturbed  conditions  are  due  principally 
to  uncertainty  as  to  tariff  revision  and  as  to  the  standing  of 
our  larger  corporations,  the  first  unavoidable,  the  latter  de- 
plorable. The  revision  of  the  tariff  and  the  regulation  of  busi- 
ness that  has  been  defying  the  law  are  always  serious  prob- 
lems. When  you  add  to  the  usual  difficulties  fche  additional 
handicap  of  mistrust  of  public  officials  due  to  -some  unprin- 
cipled public  servants,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that  business 
is  thoroughly  disturbed.  I  do  not  believe  in  muckraking  as  a 
rule,  but  if  we  must  rake,  let  us  rake  clean  and  restore  pub- 
lic confidence  in  our  government,  and  let  it  be  done  as  quickly 
as  possible. 

In  my  opinion  fche  administration  is  handling  the  "  trust " 
and  "  tariff "  question?  satisfactorily. 


76 

C.  E.  Van  Zandt,  Manufacturer  of  Collars  and  Cuffs,  Troy, 
N.  Y. 

The  Sherman  Law  clear  and  workable?  No!  No!  A 
return  to  old  competitive  methods  feasible  ?  No !  No !  Do 
you  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  ?  Yes ;  yes.  If  amended, 
make  it  include  without  question  the  worst  combination  in  ex- 
istence, "  The  Labor  Trust."  Then  make  it  plain  what  con- 
stitutes a  restraint  of  trade.  Should  trade  unions  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act?  .  No.  No.  No. 
Should  combinations  of  farmers  be  rendered  lawful?  No.  No. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  The  trouble  with  business  is,  too  much 
Wickersham  and  his  like;  too  many  lawyers  in  Congress;  not 
enough  business  men;  too  much  catering  to  popular  favor  by 
politicians;  too  much  muckraking  for  magazine  circulation;  too 
much  leaning  to  labor  legislation;  too  much  tariff  tinkering. 
Any  new  laws,  or  interpretation  of  laws  now  on  the  statute 
books  and  not  clear,  should  not  be  retroactive. 

H.  A.  Holder,  Sales  Manager,  The  Turner  Tanning  Ma- 
chinery Company,  Peabody,  Mass. 

Lack  of  appreciation  of  the  intent  of  the  Government  in 
its  efforts  to  enforce  the  Sherman  Law,  and  panic  on  the  part 
of  stockholders  in  combinations  which  depend  upon  monopoly 
to  maintain  their  position,  are  the  more  evident  causes  of  busi- 
ness disturbance. 

The  greatest  fundamental  cause  both  of  trusts  and  the  dis- 
turbed business  conditions  at  present  is  the  fact  that  the  bank- 
ing business  in  this  country  is  in  the  hands  of  inexperienced 
people,  incapable  of  properly  protecting  their  clients.  I  regard 
the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable,  and  that  it  does  not 
need  amendment;  but  I  think  a  national  incorporation  law, 
if  not  intended  as  a  limitation  to  the  Sherman  Law,  but  simply 
as  a  convenience  for  the  operation  of  corporations,  might  be 
beneficial. 

William  B.  Wialker,  President,  American  Thermos  Bottle 
Company,  New  York. 

I  do  not  believe  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  to 
be  clear  and  workable.  Return  to  old  competitive  methods  is 
not  feasible.  Failing  of  repeal,  the  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  so  as  to  encourage  business  interests  to  continue  their 
efforts  to  compete  with  low-labor-cost  countries.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Per- 
mit farmers  and  laborers  the  use  of  combination,  within  certain 
limitations. 

I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Inte- 
state Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  en- 
joyed by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to 
common  carriers. 


77 

O.  W.  Robertson,  President,  Union  Lime  Company,  Mil- 
waukee, Wis. 

The  fear  on  the  part  of  the  investor  that  if  he  parts  with 
his  money  he  parts  with  all  control  of  it,  is  the  chief  cause 
of  business  disturbance. 

A  great  abuse  that  seems  to  be  continually  increasing  is 
the  time  and  expense  imposed  upon  corporations,  especially 
of  preparing  innumerable  statistical  reports  covering  all  sorts 
of  subjects  for  all  sorts  of  boards  and  commissions,  both  Fed- 
eral and  State. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  clear  and  definite  as  to 
what  is  lawful  and  what  is  unlawful,  so  that  one  may  invest 
or  not,  as  his  judgment  dictates.  The  railroads  should  be. 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  and  combina- 
tions of  farmers  should  be  treated  precisely  the  same  as  other 
combinations,  but  I  doubt  that  politicians  will  have  the  cour- 
age to  so  treat  them. 

Thos.  L.  Sturtevant,  President  Sturtevant  Mill  Company, 
Boston,  Mass. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers  reaching  only 
corporations  of  a  specified  large  capital.  Mackraking  and  the 
fear  of  radical  legislation — and  the  possibility  of  tariff  changes 
that  cannot  be  foreseen  and  provided  against — are  disturbing 
business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  only  to  make 
officers  of  corporations  violating  the  law  more  clearly  responsible 
criminally.  We  must  have  equal  rights  for  all;  punishment 
for  all  law-breakers;  laws  made  clear  and  understandable;  and 
trials  thereunder  conducted  promptly.  Prompt  justice  is  more 
needed  than  more  laws.  Crime  has  caused  less  suffering  than 
lawyers;  suits  at  law  are  more  dreaded  by  those  who  know 
than  trusts  or  tariff.  Law  reform  is  more  needed  than  busi- 
ness. 

William  L.  Lyall,  Treasurer,  Brighton  Mills,  Passaic,  N.  J. 

I  would  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods  in  business  if  legislation  can  be  framed  to  prevent 
destructive  competition.  I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
Law,  and  I  don't  know  that  it  is  necessary  to  amend  it.  Bail- 
roads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
I  think  a  national  incorporation  law  might  be  well  to  meet  cer- 
tain conditions.  An  Interstate  Trade  Commission  might  be  an 
excellent  thing  if  it  did  not  interfere  with  proper  competition. 

There  seem  to  be  various  causes  for  the  present  business  con- 
dition— political,  social,  financial  and  industrial.  While  I  think 
a  higher  conception  of  their  duties  on  the  part  of  all,  and  proper 
education  on  those  lines,  would  remove  most  of  our  troubles. 


78 

Theodore  F.  Thieme,  President  Wayne  Knitting  Mills,  Fort 
Wayne,  Ind. 

The  tariff  should  be  taken  out  of  politics  and  put  in  the 
hands  of  a  permanent  tariff  commission.  It  is  strictly  a  busi- 
ness proposition  and  should  be  put  under  a  business  system. 
The  trusts  must  be  regulated,  not  obliterated.  The  present 
Sherman  Law  is  wholly  inadequate  for  accomplishing  this.  It 
is  a  crying  injustice  to  the  people  of  the  United  States  to  allow 
individuals,  through  favoritism  or  lack  of  control,  to  form  a 
monopoly,  issue  enormous  amounts  of  watered  stock,  and  force 
the  people  to  pay  dividends  and  interest  on  it.  On  account 
of  the  enormous  amount  of  capital  invested  in  such  unfair 
and  illegal  organizations  throughout  the  country,  any  attempt 
on  the  part  of  the  government  which  threatens  their  existence 
produces  immediate  and  widespread  disturbance,  and  affects 
legitimate  business  as  well;  therefore  it  should  be  stopped. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

M.   A.  Wertheimer,  President,  Thilmany  Pulp  and  Paper 
Company,  Kaukauna,  Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  and  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  with  proper  regulation,  enacted.  Business  dis- 
turbance is  due  to  the  enforcement  of  antiquated  laws  which 
will  ultimately  only  be  repealed  to  make  way  for  laws  fitting 
the  present  conditions.  The  same  time  or  less  spent  in  mak- 
ing proper  new  laws  now  would  remedy  present  disturbed  con- 
ditions largely. 

With  a  trade  commission  appointed  I  see  no  need  for  a 
Federal  license  law;  the  same  if  with  national  incorporation 
law.  I  cannot  answer  concerning  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission until  its  principal  duties  are  outlined.  It  could  hardly 
work  as  the  present  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  works, 
as  the  character  of  work  is  different.  With  national  incorpora- 
tion and  the  important  things  to  be  regulated  made  a  part  of 
the  charter,  I  think  a  commission — or  a  bureau — would  be 
necessary  to  enforce  the  law  and  give  advice. 

C.  W.  Dumont,  President,  American  Law  Book  Company, 
New  York  City. 

I  regard  the  disturbance  of  business  caused  by  the  suits 
against  the  trusts  as  a  necessary  evil,  which  will  ultimately 
work  to  the  benefit  of  the  public.  I  believe  the  Sherman  Law 
to  be  clear  and  workable,  and  I  also  consider  it  feasible  to  return 
to  competitive  methods  in  business.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  combinations  of 
farmers  to  secure  reasonable  prices  for  their  crops  should  be 
lawful.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  oxcepted  from  the  opera- 
lion  of  the  Sherman  Act. 


79 

Frederic  B.  Hawes,  Treasurer,  Acushnet  Saw  Mills  Com- 
pany, New  Bedford,  Mass. 

It  would  seem  the  height  of  folly  to  continue  the  present 
destructive  methods,,  with  no  apparent  good  constructive  ends  in 
sight.  It  would  seem  that  anyone  could  perceive  that  indus- 
tries can  be  more  cheaply  and  advantageously  handled  by  con- 
solidation than  by  hundreds  of  small  competing  concerns  dupli- 
cating expenses.  The  only  thing  that  should  be  stopped  is  the 
unjust  methods  of  some  combinations  and  small  individuals  as 
well.  It  is  useless  to  expect  the  only  people  who  have  the  money 
and  the  ability  to  handle  the  industries  of  the  country  to  proceed 
under  the  present  uncertainty  and  hostility  of  the  government, 
whose  unreasonable  interference  with  the  class  of  people  who  can 
manage  and  foster  the  industries  of  the  country  is  the  cause 
of  present  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  re- 
pealed. 

Allen  Merrill  Rogers,  Chairman,  H.  A.  Rogers  Company, 
Railway,  Mill  and  Mining  Supplies,  New  York. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  but  if  it  is  to  be 
amended,  the  conspiracy  clauses  in  reference  to  combinations 
should  be  wiped  out.  Let  combinations  be  governed  by  a  Gov- 
ernment Commission  or  Commissioner,  in  the  same  way  that 
national  banks  are  governed  by  the  Treasury  Department.  Rail- 
roads should  be  permitted  to  make  agreements  affecting  rates, 
but  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  should  not  be  allowed 
to  lower  any  of  the  present  freight  rates.  Trade  unions  should 
not  be  excepted  from  the  Sherman  Act,  as  they  are  the  worst 
trust  in  the  world.  Combinations  of  farmers  should  not  be 
allowed  to  in  any  way  impede  the  laws  of  supply  and  demand, 
as  we  consider  corners  in  food  products  or  in  growing  crops  to 
bo  detrimental  to  the  welfare  of  the  general  public. 

Charles  K.  Eagle,  J.  H.  &  C.  K.  Eagle,  Silk  Manufacturers, 
New  York. 

Stock  jobbers  dealing  in  Avatered  securities  versus  muck- 
rakers;  our  unfortunate  monetary  system,  and  the  mixing  up 
done  by  so  many  lawyers  in  public  affairs,  all  tend  to  create 
confusion  in  business.  Railroads,  express  companies  and  tele- 
graph companies  should  be  made  to  compete  and  stop  their 
speculating  in  stocks.  "  Should  railroads  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  ? "  No  I  Make  them  compete  openly. 
"  Should  trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 
Sherman  Act  ?  "  No ! ! !  "  Should  combinations  of  farmers  to 
restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices  be  ren- 
dered lawful  ? "  No.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
1-V< loral  license  and  an  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 


80 

P.  A.  Brown,  Manager,  Lynn  Wood  Heel  Company,  Lynn, 
Mass. 

Organized  labor  wanting  too  much  for  their  services  is 
largely  responsible  for  the  trouble  in  business.  The  middle- 
men should  be  cut  out.  Some  corporations  appear  to  control 
prices  which  are  higher  than  necessary  to  insure  a  reasonable 
profit.  Too  much  protection  to  cotton  and  woolen  industries 
is  also  a  disturbing  element.  In  New  England  farms  are  not 
worked  near  anything  like  their  capacity.  Farm  life  is  not 
attractive  to  the  young.  Finally,  we  are  all  living  too  high, 
but  no  one  seems  to  wish  to  live  more  economically.  The  sen- 
timent seems  to  be  that  it  is  all  right  for  the  other  fellow,  but 
not  for  me.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended.  There 
should  be  a  plan  to  license  or  regulate  in  some  way  large  cor- 
porations and,  at  the  same  time,  to  prevent  them  from  oppress- 
ing the  people.  A  jail  sentence  for  violators  of  this  law  ought 
to" be  included.  Cut  out  the  fines;  they  can  too  well  afford 
to  pay  for  that  form  of  license.  Combinations  of  farmers 
should  not  be  rendered  lawful  under  the  Sherman  Act,  but  the 
farmers  should  operate  co-operative  markets  in  every  city.  They 
are  robbed  by  the  commission  men.  The  farmer  doesn't  get 
what  he  should,  and  the  consumers  pay  too  much.  I  favor  a 
Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  but 
we  are  not  yet  ready  for  a  national  incorporation  law. 

John  Foster  Company,  Manufacturers  of  Shoes,  Beloit,  Wis. 

The  constant  crowding  up  of  labor  prices  by  trade  unions 
is  the  first  cause  of  business  disturbance.  Excessive  advertis- 
ing has  had  a  very  marked  effect  on  cost  of  production.  The 
exacting  demand  of  the  public  that  every  kind  of  merchandise 
shall  be  expensively  prepared  is  hard  on  the  manufacturer. 
Laws  lessening  the  hours  of  day  labor  by  all  classes  of  labor 
weigh  heavily  on  employers.  The  continual  agitation  by  poli- 
ticians inciting  employes  to  demand  more  of  their  employers 
and  give  less  has  helped  to  bring  about  high  prices  and  con- 
sequent dissatisfaction.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

W.  T.  Lewis,  Mitchell-Lewis  Motor  Company,  Racine,  Wis. 

If  the  tariff  and  finances  were  eliminated  from  political 
influences  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  non-political  commis- 
sion, made  up  of  practical  and  able  business  men,  lawyers 
and  bankers,  whose  duties  should  be  to  investigate  cost  of  pro- 
duction of  all  articles  made  abroad,  as  compared  with  the 
domestic,  as  the  present  commission  have  done,  we  trust,  and 
recommend  a  protective  tariff  based  thereon,  to  Congress,  and 
likewise  a  banking  system  such  as  Aldrich  plans,  in  our  judg- 
ment the  disturbance  of  business  would  be  reduced  to  a  mini- 
mum. I  am  for  a  national  incorporation  law. 


81 

William  Gammell,  Cotton  Manufacturer,  Providence,  R.  I. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  It  is  not 
feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in  business.  I 
should  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  if  the  political  situa- 
tion made  that  action  possible.  I  favor  amending  the  Sherman 
Law,  making  it  less  ambiguous  as  to  what  is  monopoly  and 
what  acts  constitute  restraint  of  trade.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion. 

"  Should  trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of 
the  Sherman  Act?  ".I  should  prefer  not,  but  politics  may 
require  it  in  order  to  secure  a  passage  of  any  bill. 

"  Should  combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  produc- 
tion or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  be  rendered  lawful  un- 
der the  Sherman  Act?"  I  see  no  reason  why  farmers  should 
be  treated  differently  from  manufacturers. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license 
law.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  in  a  general  way, 
but  the  question  admits  too  wide  a  construction  for  me  to 
answer  positively. 

Among  the  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  might 
be  named  fear  of  too  radical  a  revision  of  the  tariff,  uncertainty 
as  to  meaning  of  Sherman  Law  and  the  general  tone  of  the 
speeches  in  both  houses  of  Congress  during  the  extra  session. 
The  cotton  manufacturing  business  during  the  past  year  has 
been  further  complicated  by  the  wide  fluctuations  in  the  price 
of  the  raw  material. 

Newport  Rolling  Mill  Company,  Newport,  Ky. 

Make  the  Sherman  Law  clear  to  all  manufacturers,  so  that 
they  can  operate  without  political  interference.  We  would 
prefer,  however,  that  it  should  be  repealed.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act 
—most  emphatically  not ;  neither  should  combinations  of  farm- 
ers. Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
Overproduction  principally  and  political  interference  are  the 
disturbing  elements  in  business.  We  favor  a  Federal  license 
law. 

Albert  N.  Chambers,  Walker  &  Chambers,  Heating  Contrac- 
tors, New  York. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended,  making  it  lawful 
and  possible  for  combinations  of  capital  and  manufacturers  to 
arrange  business  so  as  to  earn  and  return  a  fair  profit.  Present 
disturbed  conditions  are  brought  about  by  politics  and  by  too 
many  people  trying  to  do  too  much  business  on  too  little  capi- 
tal. I  favor  a  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


S.  W.   Utley,  Vice-President,   Detroit  Steel  Casting  Com- 
pany, Detroit,  Mich. 

It  is  no  more  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods 
in  business  than  it  is  to  return  to  old-time  methods  of  manu- 
facturing without  the  use  of  machines.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  repealed  and  a  law  substituted  in  accord  with  modern 
conditions.  The  railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. So-called  competing  lines  should  be  abolished  and 
combinations  effected  to  reduce  operating  expenses.  As  to  trade 
unions  and  combinations  of  farmers,  if  it  is  unlawful  for  cor- 
porations to  unite  into  trust  and  to  control  prices,  it  is  unlaw- 
ful for  laborers  to  unite  to  control  the  labor  market  and  for 
farmers  to  unite  to  control  the  price  of  wheat  by  controlling 
the  marketing  of  the  supply.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law.  Disturbance  in  business  is  due,  first,  to  an  attempt  by  the 
railroads  to  influence  public  opinion  and  decrease  adverse  agi- 
tation by  refraining  from  buying.  After  this  came  the  feeling 
that  no  man  knows  just  how  business  can  legally  be  done  so 
far  as  the  large  corporations  are  concerned. 

John  J.  Amory,  Gas  Engine  and  Power  Company,  Morris 
Heights,  N.  Y. 

The  jolt  of  realization  following  universal  extravagance, 
State  and  civic:  the  unrest  of  labor,  due  to  the  high  cost  of 
living  and  comparatively  low  wages,  and  political  agitation  are 
the  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  if  one  could  be  drawn  for  interstate  busi- 
ness. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  if  it  can  be  made 
"  clear  and  workable."  Kailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  the  Attorney- General  should 
be  requested  to  make  "  recommendations."  To  permit  combina- 
tions of  farmers  would  be  "  class  legislation," 

S.  H.  McVitty,  General  Manager,  Leas  &  McVitty,  Inc., 
Tanners,  Salem,  Va. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable  and  should  be 
repealed  or  amended  only  to  give  place  to  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law.  I  regard  it  as  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods  if  the  trust  officers  are  willing.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  my  next  choice  being  Federal  license.  I  do 
not  believe  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  necessary,  provided 
fines  and  imprisonment  are  imposed  for  violations  of  the  exist- 
ing law.  The  supply  and  demand  sufficiently  account  for  any 
business  disturbance. 


S3 

Ashley  &  Bailey  Company,  Silk  Manufacturers,  New  York. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  or  amended  to  de- 
termine whether  a  trust  is  a  conspirator  or  a  legitimate  factor, 
void  of  absolute  monopoly.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval 
and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade 
unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sher- 
man Act;  they  are  the  violators  and  stop  at  nothing  to  elimi- 
nate competition,  even  to  death. 

What  we  need  to-day  is  education  along  the  lines  in  which 
your  questions  are  drawn.  Personally,  I  might  say  that  I  am 
not  a  believer  in  competition,  neither  am  I  a  believer  in  con- 
spiracy that  will  make  life  a  hardship  to  any  class.  I  am  a 
believer  in  accommodation  and  trusts.  They  have  come  to  stay, 
just  the  same  as  labor  organizations,  and  will  stop  at  nothing 
to  eliminate  competition,  as  you  can  see  by  the  evidence  of  trials 
that  are  going  on  from  day  to  day.  The  country  needs  a  prac- 
tical law — one  that  can  be  understood  and  that  can  draw  the 
line  between  trust  and  conspiracy. 

The  P.  Hayden  Saddlery  Hardware  Company,  Columbus, 
Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  allow  certain 
agreements  to  be  entered  into  between  producers,  so  as  to  main- 
tain prices  on  a  paying  basis  and  do  away  with  ruinous  com- 
petition, all  agreements  to  be  subject  to  inspection  and  to 
revision  by  the  government  if  the  prices  are  exorbitant. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  future  of  business,  largely  brought 
about  by  the  hostile  attitude  of  the  government  relative  to  all 
combinations  of  business,  whether  in  restraint  of  trade  or  not, 
has  caused  a  deeply  unsettled  feeling  in  business.  Combina- 
tions should  be  fostered  by  the  government  under  proper  super- 
vision, and  price  agreements  allowed  (as  in  other  countries). 
An  effort  should  be  made  by  the  government  to  build  up  profit- 
able manufacturing,  rather  than  encourage  ruinous  competition, 
which  seems  to  be  the  aim  at  present.  We  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

A.  Spies  Lumber  and  Cedar  Company,  Menominee,  Mich. 

We  do  not  want  any  overlarge  aggregations  of  capital  con- 
trolling any  line  of  business,  Some  of  the  advantages  claimed 
for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  exist;  and  some,  do 
not.  Overlarge  corporations  prevent  others  from  going  int<* 
business.  The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable.  We  con- 
sider it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  We 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  The  LTnited  States  Steel 
Company  and  trusts  generally  arc  the  causes  of  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions. 


84 

E.  R.  Darlington,  President,  E.  R.  Darlington  Lumber  Com- 
pany, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  unsettled  feeling  in  business  is  due  to  the  fact  that  we 
have  on  our  statute  books,  both  State  and  national,  drastic  laws 
that  neither  prevent  nor  cure  the  so-called  trust  evil,  but  which 
give  the  power  to  our  different  State  and  Federal  authorities 
to  attack  most  any  group  or  line  of  business  they  may  deter- 
mine on.  Our  anti-trust  laws  should  be  modified  to  meet  mod- 
ern conditions.  Business  men  must  be  permitted  a  reasonable 
amount  of  agreement  among  themselves,  otherwise  competition 
becomes  a  fierce  warfare,  and  the  entire  country  suffers.  Under 
a  free  government  a  system  of  espionage,  such  as  has  grown  up 
in  our  executive  and  administrative  departments,  is  repugnant. 
The  demand  for  an  investigation  should  come  from  the  parties 
who  are  supposed  to  be  injured,  and  the  proceedings  should  be 
conducted  on  lines  similar  to  the  law  recently  passed  by  Canada. 
This  eliminates  politics  and  personal  influence  and  gives  every- 
one a  square  deal. 

James  Harrison  Wilson  (ex-Officer,  Army),  Engineer,  Con- 
tractor and  Railroad  Manager,  Wilmington,  Del. 

An  Interstate  Trade  Commission  would  perhaps  be  a  fail- 
solution  of  existing  difficulties.  The  present  disturbed  business 
conditions  are  due  to  the  too  frequent  interference  of  the  gov- 
ernment with  the  machinery  of  business,  combined  with  the 
gabble  and  intrigue  of  the  common  politicians  and  demagogues. 
I  regard  the  so-called  trust  as  a  natural  and  necessary  evolu- 
tion from  the  private  individual  and  family  group,  which  for- 
merly carried  on  all  business  of  production  and  distribution, 
through  the  corporation,  to  the  combination  of  corporations, 
into  larger  ones  or  trusts.  The  great  corporation  or  trust  seems 
to  be  necessary  for  the  control  of  sufficient  capital  to  carry  on 
the  great  business  of  the  world  in  these  days  of  steamships, 
railroads,  telegraphs,  telephones  and  peace.  They  should  be 
regulated,  not  destroyed.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law. 

William  W.  McAlpin,  Paul  Smith's,  New  York. 

The  socialistic  attitude  of  those  looking  for  public  notice, 
and  the  tendency  to  destroy  those  industries  which  built  up  the 
country;  the  unreasonable  demands  of  labor  unions,  to  which 
the  American  laborer  is  more  of  a  slave  than  the  negro  was 
previous  to  1860,  are  the  causes  of  disturbed  business  condi- 
tions. I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  A  return  to  old 
competitive  methods  is  not  feasible.  Too  many  incompetent 
men  start  in  business  with  insufficient  capital,  which  leads  to 
over-extended  credit  and  a  sacrificing  of  stocks,  which  is  dis- 
astrous and  in  no  sense  competitive.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  modifi- 
cations. 


W.  T.  Archer,  President  Sheffield  Steel  Range  &  Stove 
Company,  Sheffield,  Ala. 

Political  agitation  and  destructive  legislation  are  chiefly 
responsible  for  disturbed  business  conditions.  Eegulation  is 
necessary,  but  is  not  accomplished  by  "  playing-to-the-gallery " 
methods,  and  at  present  the  cure  is  worse  than  the  disease.  A 
presidential  election  every  seven  years,  with  no  chance  of  re- 
election, and  a  better  representation  of  business  men  in  the 
legislative  bodies  would  help  to  attain  stability  in  business.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  the  way  of  eliminating 
some  of  the  bad  features  which  have  become  apparent  to  the 
government  and  public,  but  particularly  in  wording  it  so  that  a 
definite,  clear,  fixed  law,  clear  of  interpretation,  is  had.  Kail- 
roads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  but  cannot  reply  as  to  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  without  more  details  as  to  pro- 
posed workings. 

Lovell  &  Buffington  Tobacco  Company,  Covington,  Ky. 

Combinations  of  capital  are  necessary  to  do  things  that  indi- 
vidual capital  cannot  do.  The  trouble  with  too  many  of  our 
combinations  is  that  they  are  incorporated  under  improper 
lines  and  given  powers  no  corporations  should  have.  Disturbed 
business  conditions  are  due  to  the  habit  the  American  people 
have  of  overdoing  things.  Stock  gambling  and  speculation, 
we  think,  have  also  had  a  good  deal  to  do  with  it.  An  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  might  be  a  good  thing.  We  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law.  The 
Sherman  Law  did  not  seem  to  work  in  the  case  of  the  American 
Tobacco  Company.  We  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
Law,  however,  and  are  not  prepared  to  suggest  how  it  should 
be  amended.  As  to  old  competitive  methods,  when  we  have 
no  competition  at  all  we  will  have  socialism  or  revolution. 

Bissell's,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  so  plain  and  understandable 
that  an  honest  man  engaged  in  business  could  keep  within  its 
limits. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  if  it  is  sane  and  fair ; 
a  Federal  license  law  also,  if  it  is  equitably  drawn. 

The  apprehension  occasioned  by  the  government's  prosecution 
of  the  trusts  and  the  fear  of  just  what  will  happen  next  are,  in 
our  opinion,  chiefly  responsible  for  the  present  disturbed  condi- 
tions of  business.  So  too,  in  our  judgment,  to  subject  the  coun- 
try and  its  great  commercial  interests  to  a  political  scramble 
every  four  years  is  a  colossal  economic  mistake.  We  believe  it 
would  be  much  better  for  the  country  if  the  President  were 
elected  for  six  or  eight  years,  limiting  his  incumbency  to  one 
term. 


86 

W.  Smith  Grubber  Company,  Manufacturers  of  Stump  Pul- 
lers, La  Crescent,  Minn. 

Business  is  disturbed,  so  far  as  there  is  any  disturbance,, 
by  perfectly  natural  causes,  the  same  being  apparent  in  all  na- 
tions which  are  working  out  the  problem  of  industrial  develop- 
ment. And  while  these  disturbances  seem  to  follow  periods 
of  great  progress,  the  fact  remains  that  they  are  growing  less 
disastrous — a  sign  filled  with  hope  for  the  future.  The  Sher- 
man Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable.  The  devil 
himself,  if  he  could  read,  could  not  understand  it.  It  is  not 
feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  The  growth  of 
civilization  has  been  from  individual  to  collective  effort.  The 
Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed,  as  it  is  a  restraint  on 
progress  and  has  no  plaec  in  this  age.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  but  not  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  We 
have  too  many  commissions  now. 

A.  J.   Murray,  Treasurer,  Cortland  Carriage  Goods  Com- 
pany, Cortland,  N.  Y. 

Present  business  conditions  are  the  after-results  of  too  great 
prosperit}^,  which  has  brought  along  with  it  excesses  in  politics, 
labor  organizations,  business  organizations  and  individual  habits. 
It  seems  necessary  to  have  a  national  incorporation  law  that 
might  be  used  when  desired,  but  would  not  be  compulsory. 
We  do  not  favor  a  compulsory  Federal  license  law,  but  should 
be  in  favor  of  a  law  so  advantageous  as  to  be  desired  rather 
than  forced.  An  Interstate  Trade  Commission  is  the  logical 
solution  of  our  present  business  troubles. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  susceptible  of  being  interpreted  very 
differently  for  different  purposes,  and  should  be  repealed.  It 
would  not  be  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods 
without  great  hardship  to  labor  and  capital. 

J.  T.  Howard,  President,  Dallas  Cotton  Mills,  Dallas,  Texas. 

This  is  a  period  of  readjustment  both  as  to  ideas  and  prices. 
The  old  manner  of  doing  business  in  small  units  and  with 
fierce  competition  has  been  outgrown,  but  the  public  generally 
and  the  legislators  have  not  yet  been  able  to  adjust  themselves 
to  the  new  basis. 

Prices  have  grown  steadily  higher  for  most  commodities, 
mainly  due  to  increase  in  stock  of  gold,  and  salaries  and 
incomes  have  not  yet  been  adjusted  to  the  new  standard. 

I  think  a  national  incorporation  law  defining  illegal  prac- 
tices, as  permitting  agreements — when  not  unreasonable,  requir- 
ing a  copy  of  all  such  agreements  to  be  filed  at  Washington — 
and  forbidding  watering  of  stock,  would  help  the  present  situa- 
tion immensely,  especially  if  coupled  with  a  judicious  and  fair 
revision  downward  of  the  tariff. 


87 

John  Sherwin,  President,  E.  P.  Sedgwick,  Secretary  and 
Treasurer,  Chicago  Hardware  Foundry  Company, 
North  Chicago,  111. 

The  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  are,  first,  the 
railroads'  policy  of  resistance  to  government  control;  second, 
unbusinesslike  administration  of  the  government;  third,  un- 
certainty of  corporations  and  association's,  caused  largely  by 
that  unbusinesslike  administration  of  the  government.  We 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  As  to  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission,  we  would  say  yes,  if  properly  organized  and  em- 
powered. The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed,  or  else  it 
ought  to  be  amended;  but  we  doubt  whether  lawyers  and  poli- 
ticians, seeking  only  their  own  advancement  now  in  Congress, 
are  capable  of  or  willing  to  enact  a  clear  law.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

C.  H.  Draper,  Manufacturer,  Hopedale,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Act  should  be  repealed,  or  amended  so  as  to 
point  out  definitely  what  is  lawful,  at  the  same  time  leaving 
it  so  that  the  advantages  of  great  capital  and  complete  organi- 
zation shall  not  be  lost.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if  they 
do  not  have  the  power  to  make  prices.  I  believe  that  prices 
even  of  trust-made  goods  are  determined  by  conditions  more 
than  })j  men.  That  a  given  article  will  make  the  most  profit 
for  its  seller  at  one  definite  price,  and  that  if  this  price  is  either 
raised  or  lowered,  the  market  for  it  will  be  narrowed  or  ex- 
tended, and  in  either  case  the  profit  will  be  less. 

Present  disturbance  in  business  is  caused,  first,  by  the  tariff 
agitation  and,  second,  by  government  prosecution  of  "big  busi- 
ness." 

D.  A.  Gregg,  Manufacturer,  Nashua,  N.  H. 

A  national  incorporation  law  would  seem  to  be  what  is 
needed.  As  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  my  view  is  that 
common  carriers  should  be  under  some  other  supervision  than 
State  commissions.  In  my  judgment,  the  high  tariff  and  ex- 
cessive protection  long  continued;  politics  and  a  monetary  sys- 
tem that  is  not  adapted  to  the  times,  are  responsible  for  present 
business  disturbance. 

Farmers  in  the  near  future  cannot  combine  to  get  more  for 
their  crops  than  they  ought  to  have.  I  cannot  see  why  they 
should  not  be  allowed  to  restrict  production.  If  they  don't  care 
to  raise  potatoes,  why  should  they  be  made  to  do  it?  The  farm- 
ers are  spread  over  too  much  territory  and  their  interests  are 
so  varied  that  a  combination  would  be  short-lived.  Keep  the 
middleman,  the  real  combiner,  out  of  the  way.  and  supply  and 
production  will  properly  regulate  the  market. 


88 

The  Peck-Williamson  Heating  and  Ventilating  Company, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Agitation  against  successful  corporations  is  the  chief  cause 
of  business  disturbance.  Politics  is  at  the  bottom  of  it  all. 
Those  in  office  are  trjdng  to  make  themselves  popular  enough  to 
be  re-elected  by  tearing  down  any  concern  that  has  been  success- 
ful. Those  out  of  office  are  pledging  themselves  to  a  similar 
course  if  elected.  These  conditions  have  caused  and  are  caus- 
ing large  corporations  of  all  kinds  not  to  go  forward  until  the 
agitation  stops,  so  they  can  determine  whether  betterments  and 
extensions  will  offer  reasonable  returns  for  money  thus  expended. 
We  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable.  We  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

C.  C.  Smith,  Union  Steel  Casting  Company,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

Too  much  of  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  politicians  to  curry 
favor  with  voters,  first,  by  sacrificing  anything  in  which  they 
are  not  interested,  in  order  to  secure  popular  support,  and,  sec- 
ond, by  favoring  conditions  which  are  detrimental,  because  they 
believe  such  a  course  will  advance  their  selfish  interests,  are  the 
causes  of  such  agitation  and  uncertainty  as  exists  in  business 
circles.  The  Sherman  Law  is  clear,  but  not  workable.  It  should 
be  amended  to  permit  combinations,  subject  to  government 
supervision.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

C.  H.  Worcester,  President,  Worcester  Lumber  Company, 
Chassell,  Mich. 

Too  much  prosperity  and  exaggerated  "  get-rich-quickly " 
methods,  pursued  by  a  few  in  the  limelight,  are  the  trouble  with 
business.  We  do  not  believe  that  the  government  should  fix 
prices  for  producers  or  manufacturers,  but  we  do  believe  that 
a  national  incorporation  law,  which  will  admit  co-operation  be- 
tween parties  in  the  same  line  of  trade,  subject  tr.  the  regulation 
of  an  industrial  commission  similar  in  powers  to  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  would  allow  trades  to  work  without  ruin- 
ing themselves,  but  at  the  same  time  be  controlled  from  squeez- 
ing the  public. 

J.  R.  Watkins  (Medical  Company),  Winona,  Minnesota. 

Political  unrest  and  agitation;  recent  Supreme  Court  deci- 
sions and  pending  cases;  the  fact  that  the  crops  of  cereals  are 
below  the  average;  also  fear  of  unfavorable  legislation  on  the 
part  of  large  interests — all  these  causes  tend  to  disturb  business. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law, 
but  not  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  let  alone. 


89 

Anti-Kalsomine  Company,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  prevent  combina- 
tions from  restricting  production  and  controlling  prices.  The 
law  should  be  so  plainly  worded  that  it  could  be  easily  inter- 
preted. We  favor  national  incorporation  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  largely  due  to 
the  hostile  feeling  expressed  toward  corporations  or  aggregations 
of  capita],  in  which  no  discrimination  is  made  between  those 
doing  a  legitimate  and  those  doing  an  illegitimate  business. 
The  possible  result  of  this  may  be  legislation  that  will  seriously 
interfere  with  business  and  lead  to  considerable  curtailment  of 
trade. 

Alabastine  Company,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

There  seems  to  be  much  uncertainty  and  difference  of  opinion 
in  regard  to  the  Sherman  Law,  as  interpreted  by  the  Supreme 
Court;  but  it  should  not  be  repealed  unless  something  better 
can  be  substituted  in  its  place.  We  favor  amending  the  Sher- 
man Law  by  making  its  provisions  perfectly  plain  and  impos- 
ing no  restrictions  on  account  of  large  capitalization,  except 
those  that  would  assure  equal  and  fair  treatment  for  all. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  We  pay  a  corpora- 
tion tax  and  should  have  a  national  incorporation  law  that  gives 
the  same  advantages  or  inflicts  the  same  hardships  in  one  State 
that  it  does  in  another. 

Henry    Goldwater,    H.    Goldwater    &    Co.,    Manufacturers 
Children's  Garments,  New  York  City. 

If  a  public  service  law  were  passed  (as  in  many  States)  by 
the  general  government,,  so  that  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission should  have  control  of  the  issuance  of  stock  of  all  cor- 
porations, carriers  and  manufacturers,  to  prevent  over-issue  of 
stock,  there  would  be  no  trusts,  and  railroads  would  have  to  pay 
dividends  on  actual  cost,  not  on  "water,"  consequently  rates 
could  be  lower,  etc.  In  my  opinion,  every  trust  was  formed 
not  to  reduce  cost,  not  to  raise  prices,  but  to  sell  a  lot  of  wa- 
tered stock.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  Federal 
license. 

Charles  H.  Williams,  President  United  States  Rapid-Fire 
Gun  &  Powder  Co.,  Derby,  Conn. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law.  It  might  be  possible  for  a  carefully  selected 
committee  of  business  men  to  frame  laws  that,  while  allowing 
for  economic  combinations,  would  provide  againsf  oppressive 
monopoly,  such  laws  applying  relatively  alike  to  manufacturer, 
merchant,  common  carrier  and  labor.  The  term  "  business " 
men  is  applied  in  its  broadest  sense  as  against  those  not  in  touch 
with  actual  conditions. 


90 

John  Calvin,  Treasurer,  Bonniwell- Calvin  Iron  Company, 
Kansas  City,  Mo. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable. 
However,  it  should  not  be  repealed,  unless  some  better  method 
can  be  devised  to  control  the  evils  it  is  intended  to  reach.  The 
Sherman  Law,  if  amended,  should  be  made  so  plain  that  it  will 
not  take  a  Supreme  Court  to  interpret  its  meaning.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
favor  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate  busi- 
ness, and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

The  aggressiveness  of  the  government  in  enforcing  the  laws 
controlling  corporations  and  the  uncertainty  of  the  larger  cor- 
porations as  to  what  constitutes  a  violation  of  existing  laws  are 
chiefly  responsible  for  present  disturbed  business  conditions. 

F.  B.  W.  Folsom,  Manager,  Charles  L.  Richardson  &  Co., 
Boston,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable 
and  ought  to  be  amended.  I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old 
competitive  methods  in  business.  Trade  unions  should  be  ex- 
cepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  consolidation 
of  public  service  and  other  corporations,  being  merely  another 
name  for  stock  watering.  Prohibit  the  lease,  sale,  consolidation, 
etc.,  of  any  and  all  corporations  and  dissolve  into  its  units  all 
existing  monopolies,  especially  railroads. 

H.  S.  Abbott,  Spencer  &  Abbott,  Lumber,  Stamford,  Texas. 

Until  we  learn  that  fewer  laws  and  better  laws  is  what  we 
need,  just  so  long  will  we  have  this  trouble  with  business.  Rail- 
roads should  be  left  open  to  make  their  own  rates,  as  long  as 
they  do  not  discriminate.  A  farmer  should  have  a  right  to  fix 
the  price  of  his  own  product  just  the  same  as  a  merchant  and 
to  put  it  at  a  price  over  the  cost  of  production,  so  that  he  can 
make  a  respectable  living  and  pay  his  debts.  I  favor  a  repeal 
of  the  Sherman  Law. 

C.  F.   Morse,  President  Kansas  City  Stockyards,   Kansas 
City,  Mo. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused,  partly  at  least,  by 
the  uncertainty  in  the  minds  of  business  men  as  to  what  busi- 
ness would  be  considered  legal  and  what  illegal,  if  prosecuted 
as  violating  the  Sherman  Law.  The  effect  of  this  uncertainty 
on  the  large  business  concerns  has,  without  doubt,  affected  all 
business  to  some  extent.  A  plain  and  explicit  law  in  the  place 
of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  adoption  of  a  National  Reserve 
Association  would  go  a  long  way  toward  restoring  confidence. 


91 

The  Peerless  Motor  Car  Company,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  we  may  know 
by  the. law  itself  what  is  lawful  and  unlawful,  without  the  neces- 
sity of  a  judicial  inquiry.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law,  if  optional.  Interstate  business  conducted  by  corporations 
organized  under  State  laws  should  be  possible,  and  should  not 
be  made  burdensome.  We  favor  a  Federal  license  law.  As  to 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  we  do  not  favor  such  a  body 
if  its  powers  are  to  be  inquisitorial,  and  the  right  given  to  it  to 
fix  prices. 

Business  lacks  confidence  in  the  honesty  and  intelligence  of 
our  legislative  bodies.  We  have  too  much  ill-digested  legisla- 
tion; too  much  playing  to  the  galleries.  Business  is  threatened 
by  men  who  are  lacking  in  judgment  and  experience,  and  who 
are  more  interested  in  continuing  themselves  in  office  than  in 
serving  the  country. 

H.  F.  Luetge,  Sales  Manager,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  only  so  far  as  to 
simplify  and  make  possible  a  uniform  interpretation  of  the  law. 
Railroads  should  be  permitted  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  with  due  regard  to  the  short  and  long  haul  clauses.  I 
favor  national  incorporation,  and  Federal  license  only  as  a  tax 
in  connection  with  national  incorporation. 

Present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  a  complete 
absence  of  stamina  and  backbone  of  many  public  officials  and  to 
an  inordinate  desire  of  those  same  public  officials  to  play  to  the 
gallery  of  so-called  public  opinion;  also  to  an  entire  lack,  seem- 
ingly, of  sane,  clear  and  cool-headed  thinking  and  action  when 
large  business  has  been  under  discussion. 

John  B.  Adt,  Machine  Manufacturer,  Baltimore,  Md. 

'**-  •  • 

Gambling  in  stocks  and  produce  should  be  unlawful;  fre- 
quent agitation  and  demands  in  too  short  intervals  by  union 
labor,  increasing  the  cost  of  production  and  making  cost  un- 
stable, and  giving  too  short  a  notice  after  agreements  are  made 
before  changes  go  into  effect,  so  that  contracts  under  old  con- 
ditions could  be  completed — all  tend  to  disturbance  in  business. 
It  should  be  added  that  trusts  and  combinations  are  allowed 
too  short  a  time  to  readjust  their  conditions  in  accordance  with 
decrees  of  courts  and  the  requirements  of  law,  and  this  also  has 
an  unsettling  influence  on  business  transactions. 

W.   M.  Whaley,   Roanoke   Railroad  &  Lumber  Company, 
Norfolk,  Va. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  Federal  license  for 
a  million  or  more  of  capital.  I  also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  it 
would  be  unnecessary  for  business  men  to  consult  lawyers  as  to 
their  responsibilities  under  that  law. 


92 

Jas.  D.  Hammett,  President  and  Treasurer  of  Cotton  Mills, 
Anderson,  S.  C. 

The  country  needs  a  long  rest  from  agitators.  When  the 
public  comes  to  realize  the  motives  of  that  class  of  men  who 
do  not  care  what  injury  they  cause,  provided  they  are  able  to 
grab  the  offices,  less  attention  will  be  paid  to  the  efforts  of  such 
persons  to  climb  to  success  over  the  ruin  and  disaster  which 
they  have  caused.  We  need  and  must  have  a  large  export  busi- 
ness in  order  to  make  the  use  of  our  resources  which  ought  to 
be  made.  As  for  the  Sherman  Law,  I  do  not  believe  in  jump- 
ing from  the  frying  pan  into  the  fire.  Therefore,  I  do  not 
believe  in  its  repeal.  We  are  gradually  finding  out  what  the 
Sherman  Law  means  and  do  not  want  to  be  started  on  the 
same  exploration  again. 

L.  N.  Littauer  (Littauer  Bros.,  Glove  Manufacturers),  New 
York. 

As  to  the  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions,  extrava- 
gance is  one  of  them.  Wages  are  too  high — living  is  too  high. 
1  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  and  I  consider 
it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  what  are  commonly  known 
as  old  competitive  methods  in  business.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  to  provide  Federal  control  of  interstate 
business  with  power  to  limit  and  determine  competitive  meth- 
ods in  business.  I  am  for  either  a  national  incorporation  law 
or  a  Federal  license  law  as  can  best  meet  requirements.  I  also 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

John  H.  Kirby,  President  Kirby  Lumber  Company,  Hous- 
ton, Tex. 

I  favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law  so  as  to  define  and  pun- 
ish monopoly,  but  leaving  the  men  who  are  managing  productive 
industry  in  this  republic  free  to  take  the  necessary  steps  for 
the  maintenance  of  fair  prices  for  their  products — such  prices 
as  will  maintain  a  fair  wage-scale  and  give  some  guarantee  of 
returns  upon  the  capital  invested. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  vagueness  and 
uncertainty  of  existing  laws  and  to  public  fear  of  the  politicians 
who  are  construing  them. 

N.    S.    Everhard,    President    Ohio    Match    Company,    etc., 
Wadsworth,  Ohio. 

Uncertainty  as  to  tariff  legislation,  uncertainty  as  to  the 
application  of  the  Sherman  Law  and,  most  of  all,  persistent 
newspaper  misrepresentation  are  responsible  for  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  definite 
and  clear,  so  that  any  business  man  can  understand  it.  I  favor 
national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade 


93 

Richard  Hardy,  Secretary,   Dixie  Portland  Cement  Com- 
pany, Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed  entirely.  My 
ideas  as  to  amendment  are  well  put  by  ex-President  Eoosevelt 
in  his  recent  "  Outlook "  article.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  trie  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission,  and  combinations  of  farmers 
should  be  held  lawful.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Dis- 
turbed business  conditions  are  due  to  uncertainty  regarding  the 
interpretation  of  the  Sherman  Law  and,  also,  to  fear  of  un- 
bridled competition,  which  is  worse  than  restricted  competi- 
tion. 

Henry  D.  Turney,  President,  The  Columbus  Gas  and  Fuel 
Company,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

In  my  judgment  present  unsatisfactory  conditions  are  due 
to  the  provisions  of  a  law  unsuited  to  business  conditions  as 
they  at  present  exist.  I  favor  incorporation  under  the  laws  of 
the  States  in  which  business  is  carried  on,  and  a  Federal  license 
issued  by  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  which  commission 
shall  regulate  the  volume  and  extent  of  the  business  of  a  cor- 
poration without  in  any  way  controlling  prices  for  its  products. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

G.  Heileman  Brewing  Company,  Brewers,  La  Crosse,  Wis. 

The  present  unsatisfactory  conditions  in  business  are  due  to 
too  much  monopoly.  All  business  should  be  limited  as  to  its 
capacity;  all  speculation  in  food  stuffs  prohibited.  The  gov- 
ernment should  fix  a  price  on  all  important  commodities  used 
by  the  masses.  How  is  it  possible  by  honest  means  for  a  few 
men  to  accumulate  $100,000,000  to  $150,000,000  in  a  life- 
time? This  is  the  cause  of  general  depression.  If  continued, 
there  will  be  but  two  classes — rich  and  paupers.  •  We  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law.  Speaking  of  monopolies,  we  wish 
to  ask  how  it  is  possible  that  all  bonding  companies  ask  the 
same  rate — unless  they  have  an  understanding? 

R.  T.  Jones,  The  R.  T.  Jones  Lumber  Company,  North; 
Tonawanda,  N.  Y. 

I  believe  that  the  Sherman  Act  has  been  sufficiently  defined 
to  enable  large  corporations  and  business  men  to  understand 
its  meaning,  and  that  as  soon  as  they  begin  to  obey  the  law, 
instead  of  evading  it,  conditions  will  adjust  themselves.  T 
regard  the  Sherman.  Law  as  clear  and  workable  and  that  it  is 
feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  Railroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 


94 

J.  B.  Livingston,  The  Bridgeport  By-Products  Company; 
also  Manufacturers  of  Machinery,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

The  "  Interests  "  affected  by  the  enforcement  of  the  Sher- 
man Law — the  same  interests  that  caused  the  panic  of  1907 — 
are  disturbing  business.  I  favor  the  enforcement  of  the  Sher- 
man Law,  regardless  of  whom  it  "hits."  I  also  believe  the 
charges  made  by  the  government  against  the  Steel  Trust.  I 
believe  in  legislating  against  just  such  "  watered  stock  "  com- 
binations as  was  formed  in  the  organization  of  the  Steel  Trust. 
I  also  believe  in  legislating  against  the  bonding  of  properties 
to  their  full  value,  and  selling  the  stock  to  innocent  persons 
by  banks  and  trust  companies,  knowing  these  persons  depend 
upon  them  for  sound  advice  as  to  investments.  I  am  most 
decidedly  in  favor  of  a  national  incorporation  law. 

C.  E.  Collins,  Cotton  Mill  Superintendent,  Methuen,  Mass. 

Elections,  of  which  we  have  too  many,  both  State  and  na- 
tional; tinkering  with  the  tariff  (a  Tariff  Commission  is  all 
right  if  carried  out  honestly)  ;  wholesale  attack  by  the  govern- 
ment on  business;  too  many  irons  in  the  fire;  long  waits  for 
decisions;  high  cost  of  everything,  largely  due  to  the  retailer 
with  unreasonable  profits  and  labor  unions  with  unreasonable 
hours  of  labor,  are  the  causes  of  business  disturbance.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license,  if  drawn  up 
by  a  commission  of  capable  business  men.  A  common-sense  law 
of  some  kind  is  needed  in  place  of  the  Sherman  Law  as  it  is 
now. 

O.  B.  Oberstadt,  Vice-President,  The  P.  Schoenhofen  Brew- 
ing Company,  Chicago,  111. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  on  condition  that  State 
laws  be  repealed  and  be  superseded  by  national  incorporation. 
I  also  approve  a  Federal  license  law,  provided  all  State  license 
laws  be  repealed.  Business  is  at  present  almost  panicky — a  con- 
dition wholly  due  to  the  effort  to  enforce  the  Sherman  Law. 
I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
approval  and  regulation  of  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

Lucien  Wulsin,  President,  The  Baldwin  Company,  Pianos, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  general  business  of  the  country  is  not  in  bad  condition. 
The  people  of  the  United  States  will  benefit  by  a  quiet  and 
steady  recovery  which  is  now  in  operation.  The  Sherman  Law 
appears  to  be  clear  and  workable,  and  a  return  to  old  com- 
petitive methods  is  feasible.  The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be 
amended  at  this  time.  I  see  no  objections  at  present  to  rail- 
roads entering  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 


95 

R.  R.  Hammond,  Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  or  radically  amended. 
An  amendment  should  provide  for  fixing  maximum  prices  by 
a  Government  Commission  of  any  corporation  controlling  over 
60  per  cent,  of  any  necessity  of  life.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  be 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  but  combina- 
tions of  farmers  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for 
higher  prices  should  not  be  lawful.  The  way  for  any  individual 
or  set  of  individuals  to  engage  in  any  lawful  business  should 
always  be  left  open  and  protected  against  coercive  methods  on 
the  part  of  competitors. 

J.  E.  Corlett,  Secretary  and  Manager  Moresby  Island  Lum- 
ber Company,  Ltd.,  Seattle,  Wash. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable.  It  should 
be  amended  so  as  to  make  violation,  as  interpreted  by  the  Su- 
preme Court,  criminal  and  punishable  by  imprisonment.  Rail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
Farmers  should  be  allowed  to  combine  to  secure  fair  prices  for 
their  crops ;  but  trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  Laws  should  be  enacted  provid- 
ing for  severe  punishment  by  imprisonment  for  interference  by 
the  organization,  or  individually,  with  any  individual  desiring 
to  work. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  and  Federal  license. 

• 

W.  B.  Townsend,  Little  River  Lumber  Company,  Towns- 
end,  Tenn. 

We  cannot  expect  to  return  to  a  lower  plane  with  respect  to 
high  cost  of  living,  but  must  adjust  economic  conditions  to 
treat  as  necessities  that  which  a  short  time  ago  were  regarded 
as  extravagance  or  luxuries.  The  uncertainty  as  to  what  cor- 
porations can  legally  do  and  the  fact  that  justice  in  jury  trials 
is  practically  impossible  are  among  the  causes  of  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  regu- 
late corporations  without  destroying  them.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

Rumsey  W.  Scott,  Local  Manager,  Otis  Elevator  Company, 
Boston,  Mass. 

At  present  laws  are  not  suitable  for  the  conduct  of  business 
as  carried  on  to-day.  The  interpretation  of  these  laws  is  too 
indefinite,  and  there  is  naturally  an  unrest.  I  think  we  require 
laws  based  on  modern  conditions  and  that  are  definite  and  under- 
standable. We  also  require  a  change  in  the  currency  laws. 


96 

A.  M.  Marshall,  President,  Marshall-Wells  Hardware  Com- 
pany, Duluth,  Minn. 

The  greatest  menace  to  business  at  present  is  the  possibility 
of  conditions  similar  to  1907,  and  we  heartily  approve  of  the 
Aldrich  plan,  believing  it  reasonable  and  safe. 

We  believe  in  the  general  tariff  board,  and  that  any  changes 
made  on  their  recommendations  will  be  much  less  disturbing 
to  business  than  under  the  old  way.  which  has  caused,  in  our 
opinion,  many  of  our  troubles.  We  think  that  the  disposition 
on  the  part  of  legislators  to  restrict  and  interfere  with  legitimate 
business  is  the  cause  of  much  of  the  general  unrest. 

Speaking  of  our  own  northwestern  section,  all  conditions  for 
prosperity  seem  to  be  good,  yet  it  is  qualified  and  held  back  by 
the  general  conditions  of  the  country.  We  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

Charles  A.   Russell,  Irons  &  Russell  Company,  Manufac- 
turing Jewelers,  Providence,  R.  I. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  business,  no  matter  how  small,  but 
aims,  as  far  as  it  can,  to  do  just  the  things  that  the  Sherman 
Law  says  are  criminal.  It  seems  to  me  the  whole  matter  is  a 
question  of  degree.  We  all  aim  as  near  as  we  can  to  control, 
and  if  we  are  well  balanced,  we  are  fair  and  just;  if  not,  we  are 
exacting.  I  believe  that  the  questions  we  have  to  meet  can  be 
solved  better  by  better  enforcement  of  reasonable  laws  rather  than 
by  more  law  and  lack  of  enforcement.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law,  the  enactment  of  a  national  incorporation  law 

and  the  creation  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

• 

Edgar    Woelfel,    President,    Woelfel    Leather    Company, 
Morris,  111. 

I  favor  the  control  of  all  corporations  by  commission  or 
comptroller,  along  the  lines  that  govern  national  banks.  I  favor 
the  enactment  of  a  national  law  restricting  any  corporation  from 
issuing  stock  for  more  than  its  intrinsic  or  physical  value,  so 
that  individuals  buying  such  stock  knoAV  that  it  represents  actual 
value.  In  fact,  I  am  in  full  accord  with  ex-President  Roose- 
velt's ideas  as  to  control  of  corporations  and  trusts.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

C.  E.  Sheldon,  President,  The  Whitman  &  Barnes  Manu- 
facturing Company,  Akron,  Ohio. 

From  the  president  down,  no  information  can  be  had  how 
and  in  what  way  business  can  be  legally  handled,  and  this  I 
regard  the  main  cause  of  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  repealed  and  a  new  law  enacted  in  accord  with 
modern  conditions.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


97 

J.    M.    Taylor,   President,  Taylor   Instrument   Companies, 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 

The  sudden  attack  upon  certain  highly  organized  industries 
has  thrown  a  cloud  over  all  American  industry.  Managers  are 
preparing  for  the  strain  that  may  come.  Magnitude  seems  to 
be  a  great  question.  Are  two  teamsters — one  on  each  side  of  a 
State  line — illegal  if  in  combination  to  control  the  neighborhood 
teaming?  I  favor  national  incorporation  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  I  do  not  absolutely  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law.  It  should  be  amended  to  make  it  clear  that  labor 
is  excepted  and  to  state  the  size  of  the  combination  that  is 
illegal.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  Combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  pro- 
duction or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  lawful. 

W.    A.    Crawford,    Secretary,    The    Griffin    Manufacturing 
Company,  Erie,  Pa. 

There  is  about  as  much  competition  in  interstate  commerce 
now  as  there  ever  was,  and  therefore  I  do  not  consider  it  neces- 
sary to  reply  further  to  the  question  as  to  old  competitive  meth- 
ods. I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  which  has  not  been 
made  either  clear  or  workable.  As  to  railroads,  present  laws 
compel  them  to  maintain  rates  which  beat  any  agreements  they 
could  hope  to  make.  Part  of  the  present  business  disturbance 
is  due  to  the  political  agitation,  but  most  of  it  is  natural  reac- 
tion. I  regard  further  legislation  as  unnecessary.  There  are 
too  many  laws  now.  The  Sherman  Act  works  to  the  disadvan- 
tage of  small  producers  rather  than  of  large  combinations. 

J.    B.    Finley,   President,    Colonial   Steel   Company,   Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

I  do  not  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  nor  its  amend- 
ment at  present.  The  Sherman  Law  is  reasonably  clear  and 
workable.  As  to  railroads  entering  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  they  do  so  now.  I  do  not  favor  national  incorporation  at 
present,  if  at  all ;  nor  Federal  license,  at  present. 

The  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  are,  lack  of  con- 
fidence in  values,  occasioned  by  unreasonable  interference  with 
business  for  political  purposes,  together  with  an  increase  of 
productive  capacity  beyond  the  normal  wants  of  the  country, 
and  the  possibility,  if  not  probability,  of  tariff  legislation  in  the 
direction  of  free  trade. 

H.  W.  Corning,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  definite,  as  to  what  is 
illegal  or  criminal,  so  that  it  will  not  interfere  with  conducting 
a  legitimate  business,  however  large.  We  favor  Federal  license, 
if  it  is  optional,  and  if  it  negatives  the  laws  of  the  various  States 
which  hamper  business. 


E.  C.  Roberts,  Manufacturer,  Davenport,  Iowa. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  (1)  extrava- 
gance, national  and  individual;  (2)  speculation  in  land;  (3) 
mediocre  crops  in  1911;  (4)  emigration  of  thousands  of  Amer- 
ican farmers  to  Canada;  (5)  fanatical  conservation  policy,  tying 
up  millions  of  acres  of  agricultural  land  in  the  United  States, 
and  (6)  too  much  legislation,  national  and  State. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  if  we  can  get  a  sane 
and  reasonable  one,  suited  to  modern  conditions.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  amended  to  define  what  is  and  what  is  not 
reasonable  and  unreasonable  restraint.  Trade  unions  should 
possibly  be  executed  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 
Combinations  of  farmers  should  be  lawful  if  there  is  no  "  un- 
reasonable restraint"  or  extortion. 

Paul    Wessinger,    President,    Henry    Weinhard    Brewery, 
Portland,  Ore. 

Business  disquietude  is  due  to  too  much  hysterical  "  re- 
form"; also  the  uncertainty  in  which  a  number  of  honest  and 
successful  business  men  found  themselves  in  regard  to  what 
they  were  permitted  or  expected  to  do  under  the  "  Sherman 
Law,"  as  recently  interpreted  by  the  courts.  No  doubt,  also,  a 
number  of  illegal  combinations  and  trusts  were  broken  up  and 
deservedly  so,  but  necessarily  general  business  was  somewhat 
affected  by  the  consequence  of  this.  I  am  for  a  national 
incorporation  law.  A  way  should  be  found,  if  possible,  to  per- 
mit the  formation  of  large  corporations  or  combinations,  with 
the  view  to  economy  in  production  and  distribution. 

W.  J.  Snyder,  Coal  Operator  and  Manufacturer,  Zeller,  Me- 
Clellan  &  Co.,  Brazil,  Ind. 

The  times  require  some  kind  of  combination  as  an  economic 
necessity.  Such  combination  should  protect  the  consumer 
against  unreasonable  prices  and,  likewise,  secure  a  reasonable 
distribution  of  profits,  in  order  that  primarily  a  proper  distribu- 
tion of  wealth  may  be  secured,  which  is  necessary  if  our  country 
shall  endure.  By  legislation  Congress  should  definitely  out- 
line the  method,  the  details  to  be  subject  to  the  consideration 
of  some  commission  created  for  that  purpose.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission for  interstate  business. 

D.  M.  Cain,  President,  The  Cain  Mill  Company,  Atchison, 
Kan. 

Business  uncertainty  is  due  to  the  concentration  of  the  'bank- 
ing interests  into  too  few  hands  and  a  lack  of  confidence  aris- 
ing from  panics  in  the  past — these  panics  being  due  to  an 
unstable  currency,  and  as  that  trouble  is  still  with  us  the  busi- 
ness world  remains  continually  nervous, 


Edgar  S.  Cook,  Warwick  Iron  and  Steel  Company,  Makers 
of  Pig  Iron  for  Sale  in  Open  Market,  Pottstown,  Pa. 

Distrust  and  uncertainty,  fear  of  governmental  interference 
and  possibly  tariff  changes  make  the  trouble  with  business. 
On  the  subjects  of  national  incorporation  and  Federal  license, 
we  are  in  line  with  the  views  expressed  by  President  Roosevelt 
in  "The  Outlook"  of  November  11,  this  year.  We  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
repealed  or  amended  along  the  lines  indicated  by  the  editorial 
contained  in  "The  Outlook,"  November  11,  1911,  headed, 
"'  Wanted — A  Constitutional  Policy."  Railroads  should  be  al- 
lowed to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

B.  G.  Follansbee,  President,  Follansbee  Brothers  Company, 
Tin  Plate  and  Metals,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

If  you  amend  the  Sherman  Law,  you  weaken  it.  I  would 
not  amend  the  commandment :  "  Thou  shalt  not  steal."  If  it 
were  amended,  some  prohibitions  might  be  omitted — just  so  if 
the  Sherman  Law  were  amended.  Delay  in  enforcing  the  Sher- 
man Act  is  the  chief  cause  of  any  business  disturbance.  That 
act  is  becoming  clearer  and  more  workable  every  day.  We 
should  have  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Railroads  shoiild  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 

Thomas  J.  Aycock,  General  Manager,  Aycock  Lumber  Com- 
pany, Aycock,  Fla. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  I  do  not  con- 
sider it  feasible  to  return  to  old  methods  of  business.  Poli- 
ticians in  the  legislative  halls  who  devote  their  time  to  petty 
politics,  instead  of  aiding  the  real  statesmen  to  work  in  the 
interests  of  the  people,  are  chiefly  responsible  for  business  dis- 
turbance. Trade  unions  and  farmers  should  have  the  same  treat- 
ment as  other  organizations.  It  is  to  the  public  interest  that 
railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates. 

Samuel    F.    Haserot,    The    Haserot    Canneries    Company, 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  fact  that  busi- 
ness men  and  business  organizations  are  not  able  to  plan  for 
3^ears  ahead  on  account  of  tariff  agitation,  and  the  presentation 
constantly  of  propositions  due  to  political  expediency.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  order  that  there  may  be 
no  question  about  its  proper  construction.  We  favor  national 
incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 


100 

Julius  F.  Kurtz,  Chairman  and  Treasurer,  Emerson,  Smith 
&  Co.,  Ltd.,  Emerson  Saw  Works,  Beaver  Falls, 
Beaver  County,  Pa. 

Whether  the  Sherman  Law  is  or  is  not  clear  and  workable, 
as  it  has  taken  the  courts  twenty  years  to  guess  at  it,  a  lay- 
man's opinion  would  not  be  worth  much.  As  to  a  return  to 
old  competitive  methods,  we  believe  in  fair  competition,  but  not 
in  suppression.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Sherman  Act.  What  is  sauce  for  the  goose  should 
be  sauce  for  the  gander.  Farmers  should  be  allowed  to  act 
individual^  within  the  law,  but  not  in  combinations. 

W.  T.  Turner,  Secretary,  Emporium  Lumber  Company, 
Keating  Summit,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  determine,  if  pos- 
sible, what  "in  light  of  reason"  means.  The  law  is  not  now 
clear  and  workable.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
;is  to  utility  corporations,  but  are  not  so  sure  as  to  others. 
The  desirability  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  depends 
altogether  on  the  personnel  of  the  commissioners  and  their 
powers.  LTncertainty  as  to  what  would  come  next  in  the  way 
of  so-called  progressive  legislation  has  done  much  to  unsettle 
business. 

Levi  Smith,  Oil  Refining,  etc.,  Warren,  Pa. 

The  gang  of  monopolistic  pickpockets  has  caused  the  pres- 
ent disturbed  business  conditions.  All  the  Sherman  Law 
lacks,  in  my  judgment,  is  an  imprisonment  clause  for  offend- 
ers. I  would  favor  an  imprisonment  amendment.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Act,  for  I  consider  them  the  most  pernicious  combination-mo- 
nopolies on  the  face  of  the  earth  in  some  respects.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  as  I  understand  it;  also  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  as  I  understand  it. 

Lucius  W.  Robinson,  President,  The  Rochester  and  Pitts- 
burgh Coal  and  Iron  Company,  Punxsutawney,  Pa. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  If  not  repealed, 
it  should  be  amended  so  that  business  can  be  protected  in  a 
proper  organization  and  proper  combination  to  insure  free  effort 
to  get  proper  returns  on  fair  capitalization.  I  favor  a  Federal 
license  law.  The  present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due 
to  want  of  confidence  as  to  getting  fair  returns  under  exist- 
ing laws,,  under  which  there  has  been  a  very  serious  overproduc- 
tion. 


101 

S.  Isaacs  &  Co.,  Alfred  F.  Isaacs,  Manufacturers  and  Im- 
porters, Glues  and  Gelatines,  100  William  street,  New 
York  City. 

Too  much  political  agitation;  too  much  interference  with 
business,  particularly  by  self-advertising  politicians,  entirely  un- 
familiar with  this  subject,  is  causing  such  business  disturbance 
as  exists.  This  country  has  thrived  particularly  in  the  last 
fifteen  or  twenty  years  under  the  theory  and  practice  of  com- 
binations and  centralization,  and  despite  agitators  and  ill-con- 
sidered legislation,  in  business  it  will  be  as  it  has  always  heen — 
•'•  a  survival  of  the  fittest/'  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended,  so  that  business,  large  and  small,  would  know  what 
is  legitimate  and  what  is  not. 

S.  Bent  &  Bros.,  Inc.,  Manufacturers  of  Chairs,  by  C.  L. 
Bent,  President,  Gardner,  Mass. 

I  believe  that  the  general  business  is  much  better  than  our 
public  press  indicates;  that  a  great  deal  of  the  disturbance  at 
the  present  time  is  on  Wall  Street,  caused  by  the  speculators 
taking  advantage  of  the  uncertainty  of  business  caused  by  tariff 
agitation.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  provide  that  corporations 
exceeding  a  certain  amount  (say  a  million)  should  be  under 
national  control  and  examination,  similar  to  the  control  and 
examination  provided  in  the  laws  relating  to  national  banks. 

J.  I.  Case  Threshing  Machine  Company,  Racine,  Wis. 

The  government  did  not  enforce  the  laws  early  enough  to 
prevent  combinations  that  the  Supreme  Court  has  declared  were 
illegal  combinations,  resulting  in  the  present  agitation  that  is 
affecting  many  lines  of  general  business. 

We  believe  large  combinations  can  be  formed  and  operated 
legally,  equitably  and  profitably  under  the  Sherman  Law.  We 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Our  opinion  as  to  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  would  depend  largely  upon  the  scope 
of  their  authority.  We  have  never  gotten  away  from  competi- 
tive conditions. 

Union  Starch  and  Refining  Company,  Edinburg,  Ind. 

Business  conditions  are  sound.  The  only  real  sufferers  from 
anti-trust  agitation  are  the  stock  exchange  speculators.  Dull- 
ness in  many  lines  is  caused  by  individuals  who  cannot  afford 
them,  spending  money  for  automobiles  and  sacrificing  in  other 
directions.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  regulating- 
all  corporations  doing  an  interstate  business,  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended 
making  companies  which  do  not  establish  monopolies  lawful, 
but  subject  to  government  regulation  and  supervision,  and  mak- 
ing monopolies  unlawful  under  any  circumstance. 


102 

Stephen  Moore,  President,  Leatheroid  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany; Treasurer,  National  Fibre  Board  Company, 
and  Treasurer,  Mousam  Manufacturing  Company, 
Boston,  Mass. 

The  tariff  should  not  be  tinkered,  except  once  in  ten  years 
(census  years).  Then  we  would  know  "where  we  were  at/' 
Uncertainty  as  to  the  tariff  and  the  application  of  the  Sherman 
Law  to  business  are  chiefly  disturbing  business  conditions.  The 
government  should  correct  abuses,  but  should  not  attempt  to 
do  business  for  the  public.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law,  if  properly  framed.  A  Federal  license  law  might  interfere 
too  much  with  trade.  The  Sherman  Law  should  define  what 
constitutes  infringement,  so  that  every  corporation  could  know 
just  what  is  law. 

H.  L.  Jackman,  Manager  of  Western  States  Gas  &  Electric 
Company,  Eureka,  Cal. 

The  trust  question  could  be  easily  settled  by  throwing  off 
the  tariff  on  all  goods'  whose  prices  are  artificially  stimulated  by 
a  trust.  Persistent  meddling  by  government  officials  who  do  not 
understand  business  -conditions  is  responsible  for  such  disturb- 
ance as  now  exists.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Trade 
unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sher- 
man Act.  Neither  should  combinations  of  farmers.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

Wakefield  Baker  (Pacific  Portland  Cement  Company,  Con.), 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed;  but  if  amended  it 
should  be  made  specific,  so  that  you  will  know  what  you  can 
and  what  you  cannot  do.  Don't  use  general  terms — as,  for 
example,  restraint  of  trade — which  even  the  courts  do  not  know 
the  definite  meaning  of.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates.  If  a  national  incorporation 
law  or  a  Federal  license  law  would  eliminate  the  Sherman  Act 
I  would  be  in  favor  of  either  that  will  accomplish  that  object. 

Albert  Krell,  President,  The  Krell  Piano  Company,  Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  Sherman  Act,  as  it  is  now  inter- 
preted, is  made  clear  and  workable,  and  I  favor  repeal  of  same 
or  amending  same.  If  this  continued  agitation  keeps  up  it  will 
end  in  ultimate  disaster  for  the  manufacturer,  for  the  whole- 
sale and  retail  merchant  and  everybody  connected  with  busi- 
ness. The  farming  interest  should  come  under  the  head  of  the 
Sherman  Act,  as  it  is  as  much  a  trade  as  manufacturing  pianos 
or  any  other  article. 


103 

H.   H.   King,  President  Sheffield-King  Milling  Company, 
Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Overproduction  and  natural  reaction  are  the  causes  of  busi- 
ness disturbance.  We  have  always  had  such  reactions  and  always 
will.  Legislation  might  modify  but  never  can  eradicate  causes 
of  that  nature.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  but 
I  would  want  all  cases  decided  by  the  entire  commission  and  not 
by  one  member.  I  also  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and 
Federal  license.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  allow 
combinations  on  prices  that  will  give  a  fair  return  on  capital, 
subject  to  supervision  by  the  government.  So  far  as  competitive 
methods  are  concerned,  we  are  there  now  in  our  business. 

The  Salt  Lake  City  Brewing  Company,  Salt  Lake  City, 
Utah. 

What  causes  the  present  disturbed  business  conditions?  Too 
frequent  presidental  election.  The  President  should  have  one 
eight-year  term,  and  not  be  eligible  for  a  second  term.  We 
have  too  many  political  grafters,  too  few  men  being  in  politics 
for  the  good  of  their  country,  and  too  many  for  selfish  motives 
and  the  almighty  dollar.  The  trust  investigations  cause  much 
fear  and  uneasiness,  though  made  necessary  by  existing  condi- 
tions. The  many  dishonest  men  in  business  fear  prosecution; 
the  honest  men  suffer  with  them  as  an  inevitable  result. 

G.  E.  Crafts,  Treasurer,  Orono  Pulp  and  Paper  Company, 
Bangor,  Maine. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. Amendments  should  be  made  to  the  Sherman  Law 
that  would  make  it  lawful  for  manufacturers  and  people  en- 
gaged in  general  business  to  combine  in  protection  of  interests, 
but  not  in  such  a  way  that  any  particular  business  which  might 
so  combine  could  become  a  monopoly,  in  restraint  of  trade  or 
control  of  prices.  Just  how  it  would  be  possible  to  accomplish 
is  a  great  question.  Do  not  feel  capable  of  attempting  an 
answer. 

C.  K.  Spaulding  (The  Charles  K.  Spaulding  Logging  Com- 
pany), Portland,  Ore. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  unless  the  government 
shall  come  out  strong  and  say  what  is  wrong  for  large  corpora- 
tions to  do.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and 
also  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  in  case  the  Sherman  Law 
is  repealed;  otherwise  not.  The  uncertainty  as  to  the  meaning 
and  results  of  the  Sherman  Law  is  in  part  the  cause  of  disturbed 
business  conditions. 


104 

C.  F.  Huhlein,  President,  B.  F.  Avery  &  Sons,  Manufac- 
turers Plows,  Louisville,  Ky. 

Unbridled  competition,  while  theoretically  advisable  in  this 
country  of  wonderful  incentive  to  operations  on  a  tremendous 
scale,  means  ultimately  great  waste,  loss  and  confusion.  We 
have  seen  that  following  an  era  of  fierce  competition  during 
which  the  motto  was  "  Competition  is  the  life  of  trade/'  the 
competitors  found  themselves  impoverished,  weakened,  or  -worn 
out  to  such  a  degree  that  they  were  naturally  led  to  get  to- 
gether, so  that  the  era  of  trusts  and  combinations  was  the  reflex 
wave  that  succeeded  naturally  the  wave  of  unbridled  competi- 
tion. However  repugnant  it  may  be  to  the  long  cherished  views 
of  many,  it  would  seem  now  that  the  only  solution  of  the 
problem  is  to  permit  combinations  of  capital,  and  to  put  a 
bridle  upon  the  greed  of  persons  and  corporations  alike  by  con- 
fiscating for  the  Federal  and  State  treasuries  all  profits  earned 
in  any  business  beyond  a  reasonable  or  ordinarily  liberal  re- 
turn on  the  investment. 

Justus  Collins,  President,  The  Superior  Portland  Cement 
Company ;  Smokeless  Fuel  Company ;  Superior  Poca- 
hontas  Coal  Company;  Winding  Gulf  Colliery  Com- 
pany; Collins  &  Mayo  Collieries  Company,  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio. 

If  the  country  is  to  progress  the  demagogic  lawyer-politician 
who  knows  nothing  of  practical  business  must  be  relegated  to 
the  rear.  This  class  of  politicians  care  nothing  apparently 
for  the  real  good  of  the  country,  and  are  for  any  and  every- 
thing that  will  put  them  into  office  or  notoriety.  The  ordinary 
business  of  the  country  is  now  hampered  by  so  many  fool  and 
various  laws  in  the  different  States,  it  is  very  difficult  to  al- 
ways know  whether  you  are  within  the  law  or  not,  if  you  are 
doing  a  large  interstate  business. 

Inman-Poulsen  Lumber  Company,  Manufacturers,  Port- 
land, Ore. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  our  antedeluvian 
banking  system,  too  many  artificial  or  unnatural  conditions,  too 
many  combinations  of  capital  as  well  as  labor,  the  benefits  of 
which,  if  any,  are  entirely  overestimated — our  "protective" 
policy,  too  many  people  trying  to  live  by  their  wits  alone,  too 
many  political  quacks  with  their  expensive  cure-alls  for  the  vari- 
ous and  sundry  ailings  that  should  be  left  to  the  rest  cure, 
etc.,  etc. 

J.  E.  Friend,  President,  Nordberg  Manufacturing  Company, 
Engines,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  if  not  repealed  should  be  amended,  so 
as  to  give  us  a  law  similar  to  the  laws  of  the  great  commercial 
nations  of  Europe. 


105 

Jacob  Elsas,  President,  Fulton  Bag  and  Cotton  Mills, 
Atlanta,  New  York  City,  St.  Louis,  New  Orleans  and 
Dallas. 

Too  much  politics  into  which  business  has  been  needlessly 
injected;  fear  of  loss  incident  to  attack  on  corporations  having 
numerous  stockholders;  over-production  in  this  country  and 
neglect  to  secure  an  outlet  in  the  foreign  markets;  disturbed 
conditions,  politically  and  otherwise,  in  Europe  and  Asia,  all 
contribute  to  unsettle  the  business  conditions  here.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  made  clearer  and  should  permit  reason- 
able trade  agreements  so  as  to  avoid  such  competition  that 
finally  eliminates  the  small  OBerator  and  results  in  monopoly. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

The  Queen  City  Printing  Ink  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

We  have  too  many  threats  of  investigation,  without  the  same 
interest  being  shown  to  find  a  way  to  help,  and  make  possible 
the  things  which  would  aid  the  country  at  large  to  progress 
and  prosperity,  and  which  would  protect  legitimate  corpora- 
tions., however  large,  in  doing  business  that  is  of  advantage  to 
the  masses  of  people.  I  never  owned  any  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany's stock,  yet  I  feel  that  they  did  more  good  to  the  country 
at  large  than  harm.  This  is  a  large  country,  and  we  need  large 
concerns  and  large  combinations,  with  the  capital  which  they 
ran  command,  to  do  the  things  which  the  country  needs. 

James  P.  Gardner,  President  Morgan-Gardner  Electric 
Company,  Chicago,  111. 

Return  to  old  competitive  methods  is  absolutely  impossible. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  provide  for  government  regulation. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. Uncertainty  in  regard  to  the  government  position  relat- 
ing to  business  agreements  is  the  chief  cause  of  business  dis- 
turbance. 

J.  J.  Spalding,  Secretary,  Atlanta  Water  and  Electric  Power 
Company,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

In  all  interstate  corporations  of  a  public  service  nature  or 
like  corporations  where  favoritism  or  discrimination  in  treat- 
ment of  the  public  is  possible,  I  favor  relying  upon  regulation 
of  charges  and  service  and  permitting  combination;  in  all  other 
interstate  corporations  I  favor  limiting  the  amount  of  capital- 
ization and  preventing  combination.  The  right  of  individuals 
to  own  property  without  restriction  is  wholly  different  from 
the  right  to  get  from  the  law  corporate  existence  for  such  a 
purpose.  I  am  in  favor  of  substituting  a  clear  and  reasonable 
statute  for  the  Sherman  Law. 


106 

Thomas  Devlin,  President,  The  Thomas  Devlin  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

We  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  make  their  own  rates  or  services  to  the  public, 
as  they  are  the  best  fitted,  providing  there  be  no  discrimination. 
I  am  not  a  stockholder,  but  am  a  large  shipper.  In  regard  to 
farmers'  combinations,  I  have  a  farm  and  I  know  that  the 
farmer  can  do  little  harm  by  combining.  Their  necessities 
compel  them  to  market  their  products.  Trade  unions  should 
not  be  exempt  from  the  Sherman  Law.  Exempt  none  or  all. 

J.  J.   Donovan,  President  and  Manager,   Lake   Whatcom 
Logging  Company,  Bellingham,  Wash. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  define  the  word 
"reasonable."  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Yellow  journalism  and  professional  muckrakers  working  on 
material  like  that  furnished  by  the  Sugar  frauds,  etc.,  have 
inflamed  the  people  to  a  point  where  the  work  of  the  demagogue 
is  easy. 

Morton  Ramsdell,  Manager  Seattle-Tacoma  Power  Com- 
pany, Seattle,  Wash. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due 
to  the  inability  of  the  majority  to  distinguish  the  difference 
between  good  intentions  and  good  judgment,  resulting  in  freak 
legislation  throughout  the  country  and  the  election  of  incompe- 
tents and  demagogues  to  responsible  official  positions. 

Charles    W.    Hubbard    (Ludlow    Manufacturing    Associa- 
tion), Boston,  Mass. 

In  view  of  the  trend  of  business  and  of  public  feeling  with 
regard  to  it,  it  seems  to  us  that  the  logical  result  will  be  some 
form  of  Federal  control  for  large  corporations  doing  an  inter- 
state business — either  by  Federal  incorporation  or  license — all 
under  control  of  some  Federal  body  for  administration. 

We  favor  amendment  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 

William  H.  Taylor,  President  and  Coal  Operator,  New  York. 

The  effort  to  right  radical  wrongs  has  led  to  a  sense  of 
uncertainty  which  still  exists.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  to  such  an  extent  as  will  make  it  determine  what  is 
"  reasonable."  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments, subject  to  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law. 


107 

William  Nelson  Page,  President,  The  Gauley  Mountain  Coal 
Company,  Ansted,  Fayette  County,  W.  Va. 

I  believe  in  the  regulation  of  corporations  by  the  States 
rather  than  by  the  national  government,  with  the  exception 
of  transportation;  though  it  might  be  advisable  for  Congress 
to  enact  a  statute  giving  the  United  States  Courts  a  larger  jur- 
isdiction and  additional  powers  to  enforce  the  common  law. 
In  which  event  every  object  aimed  at  by  the  Sherman  Law 
can  be  accomplished  under  well  established  regulations,,  with- 
out friction  and  uncertainty.  I  am  opposed  to  government 
by  Commission,  and  especially  from  one  central  power,  which 
must  necessarily  become  corrupt  and  burdensome  in  time. 

Olive  &  Myers  Manufacturing  Company,  Furniture,  etc., 
Dallas,  Texas. 

Speculation,  inflated  values,  our  system  of  living  and  doing 
business  on  anticipation,  which  is  contrary  to  natural  laws;  in 
other  words,  selfishness  and  its  consequent  dishonesty  in  our 
whole  national  life,  from  high  officials  in  Washington  down 
to  the  humblest  family,  have  been  potent  causes  of  unsettled 
business  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  amended 
to  the  end  that  capital  may  combine  and  deliver  products  to 
the  people  at  the  lowest  possible  prices  with  a.  fair  profit,  but 
regulated  by  law  to  prevent  abuses. 

W.  L.  Yule,  Treasurer,  The  Badger  Brass  Manufacturing 
Company,  and  President  The  Manufacturers  Asso- 
ciation of  Kenosha,  Kenosha,  Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  modified  to  make  it  clear  as  to 
so-called  trusts  and  definite  as  to  corporations,  so  that  the  con- 
fidence of  business  may  not  be  constantly  shaken.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now 
enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to 
common  carriers. 

Paul  Beer,  Manager,  Barber  Asphalt  Paving  Company,  Des 
Moines,  Iowa. 

Non-uniform  and,  in  certain  instances,  unwise  State  laws 
have  operated  to  make  interstate  business  more  or  less  hazard- 
ous. Uncertainty,  first,  over  the  probable  interpretation  of  the 
Sherman  Act,  and,  second,  since  its  recent  interpretation  by 
the  Supreme  Court,  uncertainty  as  to  what  does  or  does  not 
constitute  a  violation  of  said  act,  have  caused  disturbance. 

George  A.  Hormel  &  Co.,  Pork  Packers,  Austin,  Minn. 

There  is  no  disturbance  in  business  out  here.  We  do  not 
want  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  as  there  are  too  many 
courts  and  commissions  now.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  to  reconcile  it,  if  possible,  with  the  recent  Supreme 
Court  opinions. 


108 

Henry  Diegel,  The  Atchison  Saddlery  Company,  Atchison, 
Kan. 

Extravagance  for  several  years  caused  a  general  impairment 
of  capital  invested  in  business  enterprises.  A  reckoning  day  is 
inevitable,  and  merchants  as  well  as  consumers  are  buying  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  impaired  capital. 

If  class  legislation  is  avoided,  the  laws  as  they  now  exist 
enforced,  and  our  legislators  will  give  more  attention  to  legisla- 
tion pertaining  to  foreign  relations  rather  than  domestic 
affairs,  improved  conditions  will  prevail.  The  Sherman  Law 
is  clear  and  workable. 

Sedgwick  Kistler,  Kistler,  Lesh  &  Co.,  Manufacturers,  Lock 
Haven,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  its  intent 
perfectly  plain  and  clear.  Railroads  should  be  regulated  with 
justice  to  them  and  to  the  public.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  if  it  is  a  good  one.  An  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission is  unnecessary  in  free  open  business.  Attempts  to  set 
aside  basic  economic  principles,  over-capitalism,  monopoly, 
centralization  of  power,  all  these  are  responsible  for  disturbed 
business  conditions. 

Andrew  H.  Noah,  Treasurer,  The  Diamond  Rubber  Com- 
pany, Akron,  Ohio. 

Make  the  Sherman  Law  clear,  so  as  to  state  just  how  com- 
binations can  be  legally  formed  and  carried  on.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 
Combinations  of  farmers  should  be  permitted.  The  law  of 
supply  and  demand  will  regulate  their  course.  Railways  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Politics  are  causing 
the  present  business  disturbance.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  and  Federal  license. 

Lewis  V.  Brown,  Manager,  Canaan  Coal  Company,  Athens, 
Ohio. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  fact  that  we 
have  not  recovered  from  the  panic  of  1907,  which  was  caused 
by  our  bad  currency  system.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as 
clear  and  workable,  and  I  believe  it  feasible  to  return  to  old 
competitive  methods. 

E.  H.  Boehnken,  Crane  Company,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  continued  investigation  of  corporations  by  the  Federal 
Government  and  the  unwarranted  attacks  and  articles  now  ap- 
pearing in  current  magazines,  written  by  would-be  reformers 
who  are  not  sufficiently  conversant  with  their  subject,  have  much 
to  do  with  unsettling  business  stability. 


109 

Frank  Hamilton  Maynard,  President  and  General  Manager, 
General  Fire  Extinguisher  Company,  Providence, 
R.  I. 

The  lack  of  knowledge  as  to  what  one  may  or  may  not 
legally  do  so  far  as  corporations  doing  an  interstate  business 
are  concerned,  is  one  of  the  great  causes  of  industrial  unrest 
and  disturbance  at  the  present  time.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law.  which  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable, 
and  the  enactment  of  a  better  law  defining  clearly  what  busi- 
ness may  and  may  not  do. 

Edward  J.  Muller,  Treasurer,  The  Fuchs  &  Lang  Manuf ac 
turing  Company,  New  York  City. 

Too  much  legislation  bordering  on  class  legislation  and  the 
indefiniteness  of  laws  that  the  government  is  seeking  to  en- 
force, have  much  to  do  with  business  disturbance.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended  so  that  competitors  may  freely 
discuss  their  business  amongst  themselves  and  make  trade  agree- 
ments legal  under  proper  governmental  control. 

Isaac  W.  Frank,  President  of  the  United  Engineering  and 
Foundry  Company,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  admit  reasonable 
co-operation  of  competitors  under  government  supervision.  Re- 
cent and  present  prosecutions  under  the  Sherman  Law,  dicta- 
tion by  labor  of  an  arbitrary  wage  rate,  restriction  of  output 
and  restriction  of  apprentices,  along  with  an  unsettled  banking 
policy,  all  tend  to  cause  and  to  maintain  undesirable  business 
conditions. 

Builders  Iron  Foundry,  Providence,  R.  I. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  provide  for  pub- 
licity and  for  capitalization  not  exceeding  the  replacement  values 
of  the  property.  Disturbed  business  conditions  have  been  caused 
by  general  extravagance,  and.  on  the  part  of  managers  of 
large  corporations,  too  much  water  and  too  little  regard  for  the 
law.  This  has  occasioned  dissatisfaction  and  distrust  and  has 
stimulated  hostile  legislation  and  court  proceedings. 

The  Davis  Sewing  Machine  Company,  Dayton,  Ohio. 

Repeal  the  Sherman  Law  and  enact  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  with  other  railroads, 
but  not  with  individuals  or  corporations.  We  emphatically 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Tariff  agitation  and  en- 
forcement of  the  Sherman  Law  are,  in  our  view,  the  causes  of 
existing  business  disturbance. 


110 

C.  H.  Duncker,  President,  Trorlicht-Duncker  Carpet  Com- 
pany, St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Uncertainty  of  the  interpretation  of  the  Sherman  Law 
which  has  kept  capital  from  being  invested  in  new  ventures; 
the  proposed  reduction  of  the  tariff  which  has  deterred  mer- 
chants from  buying  any  more  than  they  had  to  carry,  and 
which  has  kept  manufacturers  from  running  their  mills  on 
full  time,  have  created  an  unsettled  feeling  in  business  gen- 
erally. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  keeping  with 
modern  methods  of  business.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

R.  H.  Stockton,  Manufacturer  Cooking  Ranges,  St.  Louis, 
Mo. 

Trade  cannot  expect  to  be  continuously  good.  Were  it  so, 
we  would  be  in  the  same  fix  as  a  horse  going  down  hill  with 
a  load  too  heavy  to  hold  back.  It  would  push  him  a  little 
hard  at  first,  but  soon  get  him  on  the  run,  and  he  and  his 
wagon  and  load  would  be  crushed.  Excessive  wealth,  with  its 
inroads  on  morals,  and  the  high  tariff  which  has  enabled  trusts 
to  build  up,  are  in  no  small  degree  responsible  for  any  unfor- 
tunate conditions  that  exist. 

E.  R.  Fish,  Secretary,  Heine  Safety  Boiler  Company,  St. 
Louis,  Mo. 

The  approach  of  the  country's  productive  capacity  to  the 
limit  of  consumption,  plus  exports,  coupled  with  the  general 
uncertainty  due  to  government  activity  in  prosecutions  under 
the  Sherman  Law,  is  undoubedly  the  chief  cause  of  disturbed 
business  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so 
as  to  permit  the  existence  of  large  combinations  under  govern- 
ment supervision,  and  I  favor,  also,  a  national  incorporation 
law. 

M.  I.  Arms,  Manufacturer,  Youngstown,  Ohio. 

Constant  agitation  of  the  trust  and  tariff  questions,  which 
are  largely  business  questions,  has  much  to  do  with  the  un- 
settled conditions  in  business.  The  Sherman  Law,  should  be 
amended  to  provide  for  Federal  regulation  through  the  medium 
of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  thereby  preventing  mo- 
nopoly and  oppression  on  the  part  of  the  more  powerful  com- 
binations. 

Henry  Gund,  President,  John  Gund  Brewing  Company,  La 
Crosse,  Wis. 

The  unrest  and  discontent  of  the  people  has  been  mainly 
engendered  by  the  muckraker  and  political  demagogue.  I 
believe  also  that  labor  unionism  is  overreaching  itself  and  is 
a  factor  in  the  present  unsatisfactory  state  of  affairs. 


Ill 

Henry  C.   Dexter,  The  Greene  &   Daniels  Manufacturing 
Company,  Textiles,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Tariff  tinkering,  with  decided  fears  of  serious  tariff  reduc- 
tions in  our  line  which  is  textile — that  is  only  one  industry — 
this  along  with  half  a  dozen  other  reasons  have  brought  about 
the  existing  deplorable  conditions  in  the  business  world.  It 
would  be  manifestly  unfair,  as  well  as  absurd,  to  except  trade 
unions  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  There  should 
be  no  discrimination  whatever,  otherwise  the  law  is  unfair  and 
consequently  not  a  good  law.  We  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  and  Federal  license. 

V.  F.  Dewey,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager,  Grand 
Rapids  Gas  Light  Company,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

The  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  are,  in  my  opin- 
ion, (1,  general  economic  law  of  supply  and  demand;  (2) 
the  continued  attack  on  railroad  corporations  through  State 
legislation  and  taxation;  (3)  narrow  and  socialistic  attitude 
of  the  people  toward  all  forms  of  corporate  bodies;  and  (4) 
uncertainty  of  tariff  conditions. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  a  new  law  enacted 
that  would  more  definitely  state  the  powers  and  limitations 
of  so-called  trusts,  both  commercial  and  labor. 

Ferdinand  L.  Loeb,  President,  Coplay  Cement  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  making  selling  agree- 
ments to  prevent  ruinous  competition  and  agreements  to  limit 
output  for  the  same  purpose  permissible  under  broad  national 
government  supervision.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  for  the  purpose  of  carry- 
ing out  the  suggestions  already  made  for  amendment  of  the 
Sherman  Law. 

The  Midvale  Steel  Company,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Extravagance — corporate,  social,  civic,  individual — is  the 
cause  of  disturbed  business  conditions.  We  consider  the  Sher- 
man Law,  as  now  intepreted,  clear  and  workable.  Railroads 
should  be  permitted  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  We  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

Chas.  L.  Beall,  Secretary,  Beall  Bros.,   Manufacturers  of 
Tools  and  Shovels,  East  Alton,  111. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  incompetency  of  professional 
politicians,  mostly  lawyers,  short-term  presidency,  antagonism 
of  labor  unions  to  manufacturers  and  railroads,  etc.,  and  greedi- 
ness of  manufacturers  and  railroads.  We  are  all  it! 


112 

Alex.  W.   Hartman,  President,  Northern   Shoe   Company, 
Duluth,  Minn. 

As  to  disturbed  business  conditions,  I  believe  they  will  pre- 
vail periodically  until  we  have  our  finances  better  regulated 
under  a  law  similar  to  that  proposed  by  former  Senator 
Aldrich.  I  believe  our  present  condition  is  caused  partly  by 
overproduction  and  partly  by  reason  of  the  probable  change  in 
our  tariff  laws.  As  to  returning  to  old  competitive  methods,  I 
say,  no,  a  thousand  times  no.  By  all  means  let  us  have  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  the  strictest  power  of  regula- 
tion. , 

J.   E.   Fuller,  Vice-President  George  A.   Fuller   Company, 
Boston,  Mass. 

The  government  attack  on  corporations  is  a  leading  cause 
of  the  present  uncertainty  in  business.  Coupled  with  this  is 
the  prevalent  doubt  as  to  what  will  be  done  in  the  way  of 
tariff  legislation.  An  existing  difficulty  which  ought  to  be  re- 
moved is  the  absence  of  certainty  as  to  what  corporations  can 
and  cannot  do  under  the  Sherman  Law.  It  would  seem  to 
be  a  first  duty  of  Congress  to  make  that  law  clear,  so  that  it 
will  not  be  a  stumbling  block  to  business. 

W.  P.  Gallaher,  The   Northwestern   Consolidated   Milling 
Company,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  it  will  meet 
the  emergencies  for  which  it  was  devised.  An  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  would  meet  my  approval  if  it  can  be  made  opera- 
tive and  free  from  political  influences.  Apprehension,  due  to 
inefficient  Federal  protection  to  the  consumer  against  the  greed. 
Avarice  and  unfairness  of  "  pooled  "  corporations  and  producers 
has  caused  the  present  disturbed  conditions. 

The  Transue  &  Williams  Company,  Manufacturers  of  Drop 
Forgings,  Alliance,  Ohio. 

Too  much  uncertainty  in  interpreting  laws  affecting  busi- 
ness organization,  and  probability  of  radical  tariff  changes,  are 
causes  of  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  should  bo 
amended  to  make  it  clear  as  to  what  is  reasonable  and  unrea- 
sonable by  classifying.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Thomas  Hunter,  Hunter  Arms  Company,  Fulton,  N.  Y. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Disturbance  in  busi- 
ness has  been  caused  by  too  much  investigation  and  the  lack 
of  instructions  to  corporations  as  to  what  they  can  and  cannot 
do,  also  a  lack  of  good  business  men  in  the  government.  We 
want  fewer  lawyers  and  more  business  men  in  the  direction  of 
public  affairs.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


113 

George  McMaster,  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Mutual 
Wheel  Company,  Moline,  111. 

Business  is  disturbed  by  too  much  dishonesty  on  the  part 
of  some  politicians,,  and  also  by  too  much  control  of  politics 
on  the  part  of  some  who  are  directly  interested  in  certain 
branches  of  business.  Also  by  the  after  effects  of  too  much 
"  Trying  to  keep  up  with  Lizzie."  Business  affairs  should  be 
taken  out  of  politics  and  controlled  by  boards  of  disinterested 
men  who  understand  business  conditions,  and  politics  should 
be  entirely  eliminated  from  business  affairs. 

James   C.  Woodsome,  Tampa   Electric  Company,  Tampa, 
Fla. 

The  public  cry  to  attack  the  trusts  under  the  Sherman  Anti- 
Trust  Law  has  had  much  to  do  with  causing  business  uncer- 
tainty. Having  gotten  into  the  investigations  and  obtained 
the  interpretation  of  the  Sherman  Law  by  the  Supreme  Court, 
the  government  now  finds  that  practically  all  large  corpora- 
tions are  subject  to  investigation,  and  cannot  gracefully  stop 
the  game. 

Cheboygan   Paper   Company,   Cheboygan,   Mich. 

We  are  in  favor  of  amending  the  Sherman  Law  so  that  it 
would  not  be  ambiguous,  but  would  be  well  defined  and  would 
permit  manufacturers  to  regulate  their  product  according  to  the 
needs  and  requirements  of  the  trade,  subject  to  the  National 
Civic  Federation,  the  same  as  the  railroads  are  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  to  prevent  any  abuse  of  incor- 
porated power. 

James  Couzens,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Ford  Motor  Com- 
pany,  Detroit,   Mich. 

Unfair  methods  used  by  combinations  of  capital  in  their 
plans  to  control  prices,  and  the  flagrant  violations  of  existing 
laws  intended  to  govern  such  combinations,  are  largely  respons- 
ible for  lack  of  confidence  in  business.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  more  specific  as  to  what  constitutes  a  violation,  and 
we  should  have  a  national  incorporation  law  or  else  a  Fe'deral 
license  law. 

J.  F.  Wigginton,  Vice-President,  Bowie  Lumber  Company, 
Ltd.,  Bowie,  La. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  effect  of  the  government's  attitude 
toward  the  corporations,  which  seems  to  be  hostile,  tends  to 
disturb  business.  Also  politicians  seeking  personal  preferment 
and  appealing  to  the  people  on  grounds  of  prejudice  and  class 
antagonism,  rather  than  trying  to  find  the  solution  for  present 
perplexities  incident  to  the  enforcement  of  the  Sherman  Act, 
and  other  problems  of  the  day. 


114 

Mallinckrodt  Chemical  Works,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  by  removing  unneces- 
sary restrictions,  and  denning  clearly  what  rules  must  be  fol- 
lowed by  manufacturers  and  merchants.  Otherwise  it  should 
be  repealed.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 
most  decidedly.  Uncertainty,  resulting  from  pernicious  legis- 
lation and  constant  agitation,  is  the  cause  of  business  disturb- 
ance. 

W.  C.  Runyon,  President,  The  Struthers  Furnace  Company, 
Cleveland,   Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  strengthened  by  supplemental 
legislation.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  and  combinations  of  farmers  to  secure 
reasonable  prices  for  their  crops  should  be  lawful.  I  favor 
national  incorporation,  Federal  license,  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Lack  of  understanding  of  the  Sherman  Act  has 
caused  uncertainty  and  consequent  business  disturbance. 

Pacific  Coast  Borax  Company,  Oakland,  Cal. 

We  favor  not  necessarily  a  repeal  but  an  amendment  of  the 
Sherman  Act,  making  the  whole  an  understandable,  workable 
scheme  with  sufficient  leeway  to  enable  all  corporations  to  even- 
tually get  into  line.  Conditions  should  be  taken  as  they  exist 
to-day,  and  the  Commerce  Commission  should  see  that  the  law 
is  observed  from  now  on.  A  law  so  enacted  twenty-three  years 
ago  (and  until  now  inoperative)  should  not  necessarily  make 
us  guilty  for  the  sins  of  our  fathers.  The  combination  of 
capital  must  be  encouraged  and  controlled. 

D.   E.    Manson,    Second   Vice-President,    Maiden   Electric 
Company,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  attitude  of  the  Federal  government  toward  large  busi- 
ness enterprises  has  stopped  the  financing  of  legitimate  proposi- 
tions of  a  constructive  nature.  Our  unsatisfactory  banking  sys- 
tem is  also  responsible  for  disturbed  business  conditions.  We 
favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  and  enactment  of  a  national 
incorporation  law,  unless  some  other  and  better  plan  can  be 
advanced. 

John  C.  Atwood,  General  Manager,  The  National  Ammonia 
Company,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

We  most  decidedly  favor  national  incorporation.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  repealed  or  amended  to  remove  unnecessary 
restrictions,  and  define  clearly  the  rules  to  be  followed  by  manu- 
facturers and  merchants.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission. 


115 

H.  E.  Tredway,  President  John  Ernsdorff  Iron  Company, 
Dubuque,  Iowa. 

The  Standard  Oil  Company,  the  American  Tobacco  Company 
and  the  United  States  Steel  Company,  while  they  have  trans- 
gressed the  laws,  have  accomplished  more  for  good  than  they 
have  taken  in  profits,  and  economies  possible  to  them  have  made 
profits  impossible  to  smaller  aggregations  of  capital.  While 
marketing  products  at  lower  prices  than  ever  before,  the  manu- 
facturers have  earned  an  ample  return  on  their  investments  and 
the  laborer  a  high  wage. 

C.  J.  Miles,  General  Manager,  Doud  Stock  Car  Company, 
Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  We  should  have  Fed- 
eral legislation  requiring  national  incorporation  for  companies 
doing  interstate  business.  If  the  Sherman  Law  is  to  remain  in 
effect,  its  purport  should  be  made  clear  and  intelligible.  I  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Business  disturbance  is  due 
to  too  much  political  agitation  in  connection  with  business  in- 
terests and  to  uncertainty  regarding  future  legislation  affecting 
large  enterprises. 

Haas  Brothers,  Cigar  Manufacturers  and  Packers  of  Leaf 
Tobacco,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

F  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and 
workable,  and  should  be  amended  to  make  it  more  explicit,  defin- 
ing its  provisions  more  clearly,  or  rather  its  intent,  so  that  it 
will  not  need  court  interpretation.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  In  my  opinion,  agi- 
tation and  readjustment  are  the  causes  of  such  disturbance  as 
exists  in  business. 

North  Star  Lumber  Company,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Business  is  disturbed  largely  on  account  of  business  men 
being  unable  to  interpret  or  procure  reliable  information  per- 
taining to  the  Sherman  Law.  We  favor  national  incorporation. 
Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  repealed.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  and  com- 
binations of  farmers  should  be  treated  on  the  same  footing  as 
business  corporations. 

E.  H.  Foote,  Grand  Rapids  Chair  Company,  Grand  Rapids, 
Mich. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable,  and  should  be 
amended  so  as  to  make  it  clearer  and  stronger.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act, 
nor  should  combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  produc- 
tion or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  be  lawful. 


116 

E.  J.  Stewart,  Secretary,  United  Cork  and  Seal  Company. 

Boston,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  prevent  control  of 
interstate  business  through  patented  machines,  i.  e.,  products 
and  materials  used  in  patented  machines,  themselves  not 
patented.  The  uncertainty  as  to  the  Sherman  Act  and  J.  P. 
Morgan's  uncertainty  as  to  whether  he  can  deliver  the  goods 
are  the  causes  of  business  disturbance.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

Wilson    Kistler    (Kistler,    Lesh    &    Co.,    Tanners),    Lock 
Haven,  Pa. 

Laws  not  suited  to  properly  regulated  business  are  the  cause 
of  any  business  uncertainty  now  existing.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act ; 
neither  should  combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  pro- 
duction or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices.  I  favor  national 
incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

Hook-Hastings     Company,     Pipe     Organ     Manufacturers, 
Kendal  Green,  Mass. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  exact  intent  of  the  law  is  the  chief 
cause  of  unsettlement  in  business.  The  Sherman  Law  is  clear 
and  workable  so  far  as  we  can  see  its  application  in  our  inter- 
ests. It  needs  amendment,  however,  to  make  its  meaning  and 
application  quite  clear.  "We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
under  wise  restrictions,  and  we  also  favor  a  Federal  license  law 
with  the  same  qualification. 

F.  W.    Williams,    Secretary-Treasurer,    California    Glove 

Company,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

We  favor  an  income  tax,  so  that  all  may  share  equally  in 
government  expense  in  proportion  to  their  earning  capacity, 
whether  corporation,  copartnership  or  individual.  We  think 
a  Federal  license  law  manifestly  unfair  and  unjust,  and  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law.  We  believe  in  treating  a  corpora- 
tion exactly  as  an  individual,  so  far  as  taxation  and  trade 
restriction  is  concerned. 

F.  M.  Hodge,  President,  The  Kalamazoo  Paper  Company, 
Kalamazoo,  Mich. 

Uncertainty  as  to  court  rulings  and  tariff  tinkering  is  dis- 
turbing business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as 
to  make  it  unmistakably  plain  and  to  allow  some  agreements 
that  would  not  be  restraint  of  trade,  as  far  as  cost  to  consumer 
is  concerned. 


117 

Follmer,    Clogg   &    Co.,    Umbrella    and    Parasol    Manufac- 
turers, Lancaster,  Pa. 

J.  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  in  preference  to  a 
Federal  license  law.  I  also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  permit  cor- 
porations to  do  a  large  business  on  good  business  principles. 
Farmers  should  not  be  permitted  to  make  combinations  in 
restraint  of  trade  any  more  than  labor  unions  or  manufactur- 
ers. "What  is  fair  for  the  goose  ought  to  be  fair  for  the 
gander." 

Henry  B.  Smith,  The  Michigan  Pipe  Company,  Bay  City, 
Mich. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  It  was  the  best  at 
the  time  to  fit  the  cases  that  it  was  intended  to  reach,,  but  is 
now  neiher  clear  nor  workable.  We  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  to  deal  with  companies  engaged  in  interstate  com- 
merce. Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  political  in- 
stability; fear  of  radical  changes  in  the  tariff;  and  uncertainty 
as  to  the  action  of  government  officials  toward  large  corpora- 
tions. 

C.  Parker  Holt  (The  Holt  Manufacturing  Company),  San 
Francisco,   Cal. 

It  is  not  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in 
business  if  we  are  to  keep  up  our  present  export  trade.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  revised.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should 
not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and 
combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold 
a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  permitted. 

Mead-Morrison    Manufacturing    Company,    Coal   Handling 
Machinery  and  Hoisting  Engines,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  clearly  define  its 
relations  and  liberalize  its  scope.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  We  favor  a  Federal 
license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  attitude 
of  the  government  and  its  attacks  upon  large  aggregations  of 
capital  have  caused  such  disturbance  as  exists  in  business. 

Calvin  Fentress,  Treasurer,  Stearns  &  Culver  Lumber  Com- 
pany, Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Act,  high  prices  of  labor,  politics  and  the 
tariff  are  the  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  made*  more  definite  and  clear.  Rail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 


118 

John  L.  Inglis,  President,  Dunnellon  Phosphate  Company, 
Dunnellon,  Fla. 

The  uncertainty  oi'  just  what  the  Sherman  Act  means — 
capital  does  not  clearly  know  what  is  and  what  is  not  legal— 
chiefly  tends  to  business  disquietude.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  amended  so  that  business  men  would  know  what  to  do  with- 
out having  to  seek  a  construction  by  the  United  States  courts. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  that  railroads  should 
be  allowed  to  make  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission. 

George  W.  Thurston,  Treasurer  of  American  Screw  Com- 
pany, Providence,  R.  I. 

Prosecutions  under  the  Sherman  Act  are  chiefly  the  cause 
of  disturbed  business  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  repealed,  unless  properly  amended  to  permit  reasonable  co- 
operation and  consolidation.  I  do  not  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  Federal  license,  or  an  Interstate  Trade  Coin  mi-- 
sion,  as  I  believe  that,  with  the  Sherman  Act  properly  amended 
and  interpreted,  the  existing  court  should  be  sufficient. 

A.  G.  Southworth,  Buick  Motor  Company,  New  York. 

Trying  to  make  the  archaic  Sherman  Law  effective  against 
modern  business  and  the  administration  policy  of  too  main 
threats  against  business,  issued  in  the  form  of  pronouncements 
and  interviews,  are  causing  business  uncertainty.  We  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law.  An  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion would  possibly  be  a  good  solution  of  the  business  problem. 
The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed.  A  new  law  can  he 
drafted  to  better  meet  conditions  of  the  present  day. 

John  B.   Herreshoff,  President  Herreshoff   Manufacturing 
Company,  Manufacturer  and  Builder,  Bristol,  R.  I. 

National  laws,  largely  made  by  incompetent  men,  not  suited 
for  present  conditions  and  the  course  pursued  by  trade  unions 
are  chiefly  responsible  for  the  unsettled  conditions  of  business. 
As  to  trade  unions  being  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 
Sherman  Act,  we  are  not  supporters  of  trade  unions  in  any 
form. 

A.  F.  Rockwell,  President,  The  New  Departure  Manufactur- 
.  ing  Company,  Bristol,  Conn. 

Business  is  in  an  unsettled  condition  partly  owing  to  con- 
servatism on  account  of  the  legal  status  of  many  large  corpora- 
tions, but  mostly  on  account  of  timidity  posing  under  the  guise 
of  conservatism.  Natural  laws  only  should  govern  competition. 
I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment  of  a 
national  incorporation  law.  I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  The  less  commissions  we  have  the  better. 


119 

The  Bagley  &  Sewall  Company,  C.  D.  Bingham,  Treasurer, 
Watertown,  N.  Y. 

All  the  thing's  which  constitute  "  good  times  "  are  and  have 
for  a  long  time  been  fully  present  —  good  crops,  good  prices  and 
high  wages.  Buyers  want  the  stuff  and  have  the  money  to  pay 
for  it.  Sellers  have  the  stuff  and  want  to  sell  it.  But  there 
is  the  uncertainty  on  the  part  of  the  buyer  as  to  whether  the 
tiling  he  buys  may  not  be  some  unanticipated  action  on  the  part 
of  the  government,  be  worth  less  to-morrow  than  he  pays  for  it 
to-day?  So  he  only  buys  "from  hand  to 


Leo   Ernst,  President,  Independent  Brewing  Association, 
Chicago,  111. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  corrupt  politics, 
corrupt  business,  corrupt  and  inefficient  churches,  artificially 
stimulated  expansion  and  development  of  the  country,  creating 
ostentatious  wealth,  inciting  everybody  to  get  rick  quick,  and 
engendering  the  spirit  of  high  living,  bringing  in  the  high  cost 
of  living.  The  climax  is  reached,  with  its  natural  discontents 
and  disappointments. 

The  J.  Miller  Company,  Shoe  Manufacturers,  Racine,  Wis. 

Business  is  disturbed  by  the  attack  on  capital,  but  the  dis- 
ease needed  the  attack,  and  in  time  when  things  get  running 
along  again  under  the  new  system,  trade  will  resume  its  regular 
course.  In  our  business  leather  combinations  and  trusts  make 
us  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  as  does  also  the  United  Shoe  Machin- 
ery Company.  We  believe  the  Sherman  Law  to  be  clear  and 
workable.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

E.  K.  Wood  Lumber  Company,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  two  causes:  (1) 
The  uncertainty  of  the  present  anti-trust  laws;  (2)  the  timidity 
of  manufacturers  over  the  attitude  of  labor  leaders,  as  soon 
as  capital  is  invested  in  industries.  The  iron  industry  in  San 
Francisco  has  virtually  been  driven  out  by  the  oppression  of 
labor  leaders,  through  strikes  and  boycotts,  and  unless  some 
solution  is  found  to  harmonize  capital  and  labor  I  look  for  no 
improvement  in  the  near  future. 

Ethan  Allen  Doty,  Kings  County  Refrigerating  Company, 
New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  amended  to  the  extent  of 
making  possible  the  control  of  corporations  doing  interstate 
business,  so  that  their  activities  may  be  curbed  when  they  .try 
to  choke  fair  and  healthy  competition.  So  far  the  law  is  only 
partially  workable. 


120 

A.  H.  Sweet  &  Son,  Manufacturers  of  Wood  and  Paper 
Boxes,  Norton,  Mass. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  trouble  over 
the  Sherman  Act  and  also  the  unrest  among  the  working  class. 
Nothing  satisfies  them.  We  never  will  get  on  a  good  footing 
until  such  time  as  these  labor  troubles  are  put  under  some 
restraint. 

A  law  to  let  the  employer  know  where  he  stands  would 
do  more  to  further  the  business  of  the  country  than  any  one 
thing  we  can  think  of. 

Russell,   Burdsall   &   Ward,    Manufacturers   of   Bolts   and 
Nuts,  Port  Chester,  N.  Y. 

We  do  not  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law  has  been  made 
as  yet  clear  and  workable.  At  the  same  time,  we  do  not  favor 
a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  but  it  ought  to  be  improved 
by  amendment.  We  should  have  a  national  incorporation  law, 
also  a  Federal  license  law.  We  also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  approval  and  regulation  by 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

William  B.   Melish,  President,  The  Bromwell  Brush  and 
Wire  Goods  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Existing  troubles  in  business  are  due  to  too  much  tariff  dis- 
turbance, too  many  attacks  on  corporations,  too  much  "bun- 
combe" on  the  part  of  leaders  of  both  political  parties  who 
seek  to  serve  their  own  selfish  ends  by  stirring  up  the  people 
of  the  country,  arraying  class  against  class,  and  creating  lack 
of  confidence  and  fear  on  the  part  of  the  average  citizen  en- 
gaged in  business  who  "  doesn't  know  where  he  is  at." 

L.   J.   Hopkins,   Lumber   Manufacturer  and  Iron   Mining, 
Exchange  Building,  Duluth,  Minn. 

Overproduction  from  1896  to  1906,  aggravated  somewhat 
by  the  effort  to  make  the  large  interests  honest  and  decent,  have 
had  much  to  do  with  an  unsettled  feeling  in  business.  The 
Sherman  Law  is  clear  and. workable  and  should  neither  be  re- 
pealed nor  amended.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  anrl  we  should  have  a  national  incor- 
poration law. 

Wallace  L.  Pierce,  Merchant  and  Manufacturer,  S.  S.  Pierce 
Company,  Boston,  Mass. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  an  enactment  of 
a  new  law  in  its  place  which  will  make  satisfactory  provision 
for  modern  business  conditions.  Political  agitation  is  the  cause 
of  the  present  business  troubles.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 


121 

Frank  Jay  Saxe,  Secretary  and  Manager,  42  Broadway,  New 
York  City. 

We  have  become  the  wealthiest  and  most  powerful  nation 
in  the  world.  In  my  opinion  this  is  caused  by  our  great  energy 
and  freedom  of  credits.  This  has  produced  ability  which,  in 
connection  with  our  climate,  has  caused  us  to  grow  in  wealth 
and  power.  Our  so-called  trusts  are  a  necessity.  Our  great 
wealth  finds  aggregations  of  capital  a  necessity.  We  must  have 
laws  to  keep  out  evils,  but  the  laws  should  be  simple,  not  am- 
biguous. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

George  G.  Wheeler,  Manager  Jewelry  Factory,  North  Attle- 
boro,  Mass. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  very  largely  to  the 
too  high  tariff  on  necessities,  thereby  increasing  cost  of  living 
to  a  point  where  the  average  workingman  can  barely  buy  food, 
fuel  and  clothing.  Large  sums  invested  in  automobiles  by 
those  who  can  and  who  cannot  afford  them  have  temporarily 
diverted  money  from  customary  channels,  though  it  is  gravitat- 
ing back  through  new  channels.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

Plainville  Stock  Company,  Manufacturing  Jewelers,  Plain- 
ville,  Mass. 

Too  much  politics;  tariff  regulation;  war  upon  the  railroads 
and  great  industries  of  the  country;  too  much  money  spent  by 
the  people  for  pleasure,  and  general  extravagant  living  beyond 
their  means;  too  many  champagne  appetites  and  beer  pocket- 
hooks — are  causes  of  business  disturbance.  There  is  no  such 
word  as  economy  these  days.  Too  large  a  part  of  the  money 
is  spent  for  pleasure,  and  the  industries  get  too  little.  We 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

The   J.   B.   Williams   Company,    Manufacturers   of   Soaps, 
Glastonbury,  Conn. 

Uncertainty  as  to  meaning  of  Sherman  Law  is  causing  busi- 
ness disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  We 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

There  should  be  regulation  for  accomplishment  of  two  ob- 
jects: (1)  A  fair  field  for  anyone  to  go  into  the  manufactur- 
ing or  mercantile  business  in  any  line;  (2)  impossibility  of  a 
monopoly. 

The  Sefton  Manufacturing  Company,  Chicago,  111. 

Enforce  present  laws  when  wilfully  violated.  Stop  agita- 
tion— get  to  work  and  work  hard !  Stop  worrying  about  some- 
thing that  may  never  come.  That's  the  remedy  for  business 
disturbance,  which  is  due  only  to  fear. 


122 

Ernest  E.  Tobias,  Secretary,  Michigan  Wire  Fence  Com- 
pany, Adrian,  Mich. 

The  primary  cause  of  business  disturbance  is  the  greed  of 
•k  big  business."  The  immediate  causes  are  the  attempts  to 
regulate  "  big  business/7  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  is 
not  clear  and  workable,  but  its  amendment  is  going  to  be  a 
most  difficult  job.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  Farmers  should  be  allowed  to  combine,  subject 
to  the  same  rule  of  "  unreasonable  restraint  of  trade." 

C.  F.  Burroughs,  Vice-President,  F.  S.  Royster  Guano  Com- 
pany, Norfolk,  Va. 

We  believe  that  the  present  disturbed  business  condition  is 
clue  to  the  general  lack  of  confidence  created  by  the  continual 
threats  of  prosecution  of  the  large  corporations.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  make  clear  what  the  law  is. 
Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 
Sherman  Law,  but  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  treated 
as  lawful.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

John   C.  Jay,  Jr.,  The  Pennsylvania   Steel   Company   and 
Maryland  Steel  Company,  New  York  City. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  principally  to  uncer- 
tainty. After  years  of  inaction  under  the  Sherman  Law,  the 
government  suddenly  enforces  it  in  a  retroactive  way. 

I  commend  to  your  attention  an  article  in  October  "  World's 
Work/'  called  "  The  New  Competition,"  by  a  man  named  Eddy. 
I  believe  the  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

Augustus  Veghte,  President  Troy  Malleable  Iron  Company. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  or  its  amendment  so 
that  a  corporation  can  do  business  without  interference  by  the 
courts.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreement? 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion. The  uncertainty  of  the  attitude  of  the  Federal  authori- 
ties is  the  cause  of  business  disturbance. 

James  B.  Wharton,  Richmond  Light,  Heat  and  Power  Com- 
pany, Richmond,  Ind. 

High  tariff,  loss  of  confidence  in  the  administration  and 
rooting  up  of  unlawful  combinations,  together  with  an  absolute 
lack  of  economy,  are  the  causes  of  disturbance  in  business.  The 
Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable  and  does  not  need  amend- 
ment. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 


123 

Asher   Miner,   President,   Miner-Hillard   Milling   Company, 
Wilkes  Barre,  Pa. 

Over-capitalization  and  the  effort  to  earn  dividends  on 
watered  stock,  thus  necessitating  government  interference  with 
business,  have  had  an  unfortunate  influence  on  business  in  gen- 
eral. The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed  until  some- 
1 1 1  i  tig  better  is  found  to  replace  it,  as  it  is  evident  that  some 
restraint  is  necessary  on  the  great  corporations.  While  the 
Sherman  Law  might  be  amended,  it  is  probable  that  a  national 
incorporation  law,  giving  the  government  full  power  to  super- 
vise, to  limit  profits,  salaries,  capitalization,  etc..  would  be 
better. 

R.  M.  Richter,  President  and  General  Manager,  Carthage 
Superior  Marble  &  Limestone  Co.,  Carthage,  Mo. 

All  legitimate  business  is  being  made  to  suffer  because  some 
enterprises  are  unquestionably  guilty  of  breach  of  law,  statutory 
and  economic.  We  have  been,  and  are,  passing  through  a  period 
of  destructive  internal  administration.  We  need  constructive 
activity.  A  patient  suffering  from  malaria,  carbuncles,  ingrown 
toe-nails,  and  threatened  with  locomotor  ataxia,  would  not  have 
his  spine  removed  as  a  first  step  toward  robust  health.  Let  our 
business  doctors  be  scientific. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  legalize  combina- 
tions controlling  all  or  part  of  a  commodity,  under  government 
surveillance.  I  favor  national  incorporation.  Federal  license, 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.   S.   Brace    (Brace   &   Hergert   Mill   Company,   Lumber), 
Seattle,  Wash. 

The  impression  thai  the  government  will  not  let  capital  earn 
a  fair  amount  on  the  investment,  especially  in  railway  stocks, 
has  much  to  do  with  disturbed  conditions  in  business.  I  regard 
the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable,  and  I  believe  that 
railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Federal  license  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Weston  Dodson  &  Co.,  Coal  Mining,  Bethlehem,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable  and  should  be 
made  more  concise  and  clear.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  We  favor  national  incor- 
paration,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 
with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

The  New  Jersey  Terra  Cotta  Company,  New  York  City. 

We  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment 
of  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  a  Federal  license  law,  and 
the  creation  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


124 

Frederick  L.  Cranford,  Contractor,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Dishonest  business  methods;  the  exploitation  of  the  public, 
of  labor,  and  of  investors  are  the  causes  of  such  business  dis- 
turbance as  exists.  Avarice  and  greed  demand  the  right  to 
pay  dividends  on  water  and  to  capitalize  profits. 

The  complete  combination  of  both  railroads  and  industrial 
enterprises  is  economically  proper  and  advisable,  but  if  the 
government  is  to  permit  the  elimination  of  competition  and  risk 
—the  reason  and  excuse  for  big  profits — such  combinations 
should  earn  limited  profits,  pay  limited  dividends,  and  be  hon- 
estly capitalized. 

The  Globe-Wernicke  Company,  Manufacturers  Office  and 
Library  Furniture,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Eeaction  from  too  much  "  boom  "  and  the  throes  of  readjust- 
ment to  changing  conditions  are  responsible  for  business  dis- 
turbance. We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended  by  providing  for  Federal  incor- 
poration and  supervision,  somewhat  like  national  banks  and 
railroad  companies,  also  providing  for  publicity.  Should  trade 
unions  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act? 
By  no  means.  They  are  the  worst  of  all. 

Meridian  Fertilizer  Factory,  Meridian,  Miss. 

Real  business  is  not  much  disturbed.  Those  interests  de- 
pending on  protecting  tariffs,  of  course,  are  uneasy.  The  power 
of  combinations  is  abused.  Unlimited  competition  is  ruinous. 
It  seems  the  only  chance  is  for  the  government  to  take  entire 
control  of  business.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  We  favor  also  a  repeal  of 
the  Sherman  Law  and  absolute  control  by  the  government  until 
the  "  Golden  Rule  "  is  the  law  of  business. 

E.  F.  Underbill,  The  American  Laundry  Machinery  Com- 
pany, Chicago,  111. 

I  most  emphatically  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 
Uncertainty  as  to  legislation  and  the  vague  utterances  of  the 
government  cause  business  disturbance.  Constructive  action 
should  prevail  with  the  destructive  action  against  those  not  will- 
ing to  follow  the  constructive  policy  when  laid  down  by  the 
government.  An  interstate  Trade  Commission  should  be  sub- 
ject to  appeal  to  the  Commerce  Court. 

V.  A.  Wallin,  Tanner,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  sufficiently  clear  and  should  be 
amended  so  as  to  make  it  more  definite.  The  present  disturb- 
ance in  business  is  caused  chiefly  by  indecision  as  to  what  can 
or  cannot  be  done  under  the  Sherman  Law.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


125 

Geo.  S.  Hage,  Secretary  of  S.   Hage   Lumber   Company, 
Madelia,  Minn. 

Overproduction  of  almost  all  lines  of  manufactured  goods 
is  one  cause  of  business  disturbance.  I  am  in  favor  of  a 
sweeping  reduction  of  the  present  tariff. 

The  present  high  cost  of  living  is  causing  a  great  deal  of 
discontent.  The  only  solution  is  to  get  more  people  on  the 
land  as  actual  producers.  If  anything  can  be  done  to  get  poor 
men  with  families  out  of  the  city  and  on  to  a  piece  of  land,  it 
ought  to  be  done.  There  are  thousands  of  acres  of  highlv  pro- 
ductive land  in  Minnestota  and  other  northwestern  States  that 
can  be  bought  from  the  State  on  40  years'  time  at  4  per  cent, 
interest.  Get  those  who  are  willing  to  work  in  touch  with  the 
land. 

B.  W.  Sutcliff,  Manager,  Carstens  Packing  Company,  Aber- 
deen, Wash. 

The  tendency  of  too  many  of  our  prominent  men  in  poli- 
tics to  wantonly  and  unjustly  cry  down  all  railroad  companies 
and  large  corporations  for  political  effect  has  a  tendency  to 
make  capital  timid.  Industrial  and  railroad  bonds  at  the  pres- 
ent time  show  plainly  how  investors  shrink  from  safe  invest- 
ments. I  am  for  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

B.  V.  M.  La  Rue,  Manager,  Southwestern  States  Portland 
Cement  Company,  Dallas,  Texas. 

Overproduction  in  so  many  lines  and  the  general  uncer- 
tainty regarding  possible  political  changes;  extravagance  of 
both  individuals  and  corporations  are  causing  business  unrest. 
Give  us  a  respite  from  excessive  legislation,  choke  the  <e  yellow  " 
newspapers,  "live  and  let  live,"  and  we  will  all  be  happy  and 
prosperous.  I  am  for  national  incorporation  and  Federal  license 
laws. 

The  New  River  Lumber  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  reaction  from  too  much  "  boom  "  and  the  readjustment 
to  changing  conditions  are  causes  of  business  disturbance.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  by  providing  for  Federal 
incorporation  and  supervision,  somewhat  like  national  banks 
and  railroad  companies;  also  providing  for  publicity.  Should 
trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Act?  By  no  means.  They  are  the  worst  of  all. 

Kalamazoo  Corset  Company,  Kalamazoo,  Mich. 

To  some  extent  the  tariff,  but  largely  politics,  are  causing 
unrest.  We  need  a  little  vacation. 

We  favor  Federal  incorporation  for  interstate  business,  with 
periodical  examination  of  condition,  or  report  to  the  government. 
Do  not  favor  any  control  of  prices  by  government. 


126 

Robert  Rogers,  Wire  Cloth  Manufacturer,  New  York  City. 

What  business  needs  is  a  good  banking  system  in  the  in- 
terest of  trade  and  commerce.  Our  present  system  seems  chiefly 
of  benefit  to  speculators.  I  think  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission might  possibly  do  more  good  than  the  big  stick  trade 
has  been  trying  to  keep  clear  of  for  the  last  four  or  five  years. 
I  cannot  see  the  need  of  a  national  incorporation  law.  As  for 
a  Federal  license  law,  it  might  possibly  do  good  for  the  liquor 
business.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  so  construed  as  not 
to  interfere  with  reasonable  ways  of  doing  business.  People 
are  not  in  business  for  the  fun  of  competing  with  one  another 
without  profit  to  themselves. 

Otis  N.  Pierce,  President  of  Grinnell  Manufacturing  Cor- 
poration, Spinning  and  Weaving  Fine  Cotton  Yarns, 
New  Bedford,  Mass. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  (1)  tariff  agita- 
tion; (2)  distrust  of  the  Sherman  Law;  (3)  politics.  The 
present  outlook  is  that  politicians  will  be  the  ruination  of  this 
country.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  if  same  as  cor- 
poration law  of  Massachusetts.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  so  as  to  make  it  workable. 

M.  C.  Butler,  Mine  Superintendent,  Fairfax,  Wash. 

The  cost  of  "  living  high  "  and  general  tendency  to  do  as 
little  work  as  possible  and  to  ask  continually  for  higher  wages 
is  the  trouble  with  business.  Government  supervision  and  sta- 
bility is  what  we  want.  Favors  to  none — what  is  best  for  the 
majority.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  and  a  new 
law  requiring  more  publicity  in  affairs  of  corporations  should 
take  its  place.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

E.  A.  Wurster,  The  Falk  Company,  Steel  Castings,  Mil- 
waukee, Wis. 

Too  many  "  reformers  "  being  listened  to,  in  the  first  place, 
and  too  much  legislation  antagonistic  to  corporations,  so  that 
business  knows  not  where  it  is  at,  are  the  causes  of  disturbance 
in  business.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  repeal 
of  the  Sherman  Law,  or  else  its  amendment  to  provide  for  com- 
binations under  regulation. 

A.  Albert  Sack,  President,  Lymansville  Company,  North 
Providence,  R.  I. 

Agitation  for  tariff  reduction  and  the  apparent  impossibility 
of  bringing  the  Sherman  Law  into  harmony  with  business  con- 
ditions are  the  chief  causes  of  existing  uncertainty  and  hesita- 
tion in  business  enterprises.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  re- 
pealed. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


127 

T.  H.  Letson,  Sales  Manager,  American  Hoist  and  Derrick 
Company,  New  York  City. 

Any  present  disturbance  in  business  is  due  to  natural  evolu- 
tion and  therefore  unavoidable.  Whatever  unnecessary  disturb- 
ance there  is  or  may  be  finds  its  origin  in  dumb  and  thoughtless 
or  prejudiced  opposition  to  natural  forces.  We  must  cease  to 
compete  and  learn  to  combine  and  co-operate,  so  that  both, 
each  and  all  shall  benefit  from  the  wealth  produced  and  the 
advancement  made.  If  there  is  any  question  who  is  to  stand 
the  greatest  chance  of  loss  it  must  be  those  who  are  most  able 
to  lose — not  those  who  are  least;  but  this  leads  to  Socialism! 
Yes.  Do  not  get  scared,  natural  laws  are  obeyed  or  destroy! 

T.  J.  Elton,  Secretary,  Manistee  Land  and  Timber  Com- 
pany, Concordia  Land  and  Timber  Company,  Manis- 
tee Board  of  Water  Commissioners,  Manistee,  Mich. 

Many  causes  have  disturbed  business  conditions.  It  is  hard 
to  tell  what.  The  tariff  benefits  one  business  and  hurts  others. 
High  tariff  has  done  more  harm  than  any  other  one  thing. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended.  I  favor  a  national  in- 
corporation law.  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

M.  W.  Bushnell,  Manager,  G.  H.  Bushnell  Press  Company 
and  the  Standard  Metal  Work  Company,  Thompson- 
ville,  Conn. 

Business  disturbance  is  largely  due  to  the  "wildcat"  in- 
corporations of  the  past  few  years,  where  so  much  "  water " 
has  been  in  evidence;  to  unsuitable  legislation  in  regard  to 
business;  the  menacing  of  business  by  unscrupulous  labor  lead- 
ers— all  tending  to  produce  unrest.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  amended  so  that  it  can  be  practically  applied. 

John  E.  Warren,  Paper  Manufacturer,  Cumberland  Mills, 
Me. 

We  need  constructive  legislation  which  will  allow  as  large 
liberty  in  the  way  of  combinations  as  is  consistent  with  the 
common  good.  The  Sherman  Law  should  indicate  in  what  way 
combinations  may  be  made  and  for  what  purposes.  I  am  favor- 
ably disposed  to  a  national  incorporation  law  and  decidedly 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

James  M.  Dodge,  Chairman  of  the  Board,  Link-Belt  Com- 
pany, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Lack  of  unity  in  court  decisions  affecting  large  business 
associations  is  causing  much  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  only  by  clearly  defining  "reasonable"  and 
"unreasonable"  restraint.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


128 

E.  B.  Hatch,  President,  The  Johns-Pratt  Company,  Hart- 
ford, Conn. 

Lack  of  confidence  is  due  to  the  attitude  of  the  govern- 
ment toward  industrial  combinations  and  large  corporations. 
We  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to 
permit  of  certain  commercial  combinations  under  governmental 
restriction  and  supervision,  and  that  the  law  should  be  so 
clearly  drawn  as  to  prevent  any  misunderstanding  as  to  what 
kind  of  a  combination  would  constitute  a  restriction  of  trade 
and  what  would  be  legal  under  the  act.  We  do  not  believe  that 
farmers  should  be  allowed  to  combine  to  restrict  production  of 
crops.  We  do  believe,  however,  they  should  be  allowed  to  com- 
bine for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  fair  prices.  We  believe  that 
such  combination  under  governmental  restriction  and  super- 
vision would  benefit  the  whole  nation. 

John  F.   Wolff,   Vice-President,   L.  Wolff   Manufacturing 
Company,  Plumbers'  Supplies,  Chicago,  111. 

Uncertainty  in  regard  to  the  effect  of  prosecutions  under 
the  Sherman  Act  is  the  disturbing  element  in  business.  The 
Sherman  Act  should  be  amended  so  as  to  allow  business  to 
obtain  a  reasonable  profit  legally,  and  to  provide  for  a  civil 
action  for  alleged  violations,  and  criminal  action  to  be  brought 
only  in  the  case  of  a  second  offense.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration act. 

Scovill  Manufacturing  Company,  Waterbury,  Conn. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  possibly,  but  not  workable  with- 
out detriment  to  the  general  good.  We  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law.  It  is  bad  absolutely  in  every  particular.  It 
requires  competition  such  as  never  before  existed.  In  all  coun- 
tries and  in  all  times  past  competitors  could  agree  together 
on  prices  in  times  of  stress  to  avoid  bankruptcy,  and  did  so 
agree. 

Otto    Armleder,    O.    Armleder    Company,    Wagon    Manu- 
facturers, Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Too  much  politics  and  the  concentration  of  money  in  the 
hands  of  a  few  led  to  disturbance  in  business.  Stop  Wall  street 
gambling  and  you  will  correct  our  greatest  evil.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

Bay  State  Belting  Company,  Boston,  Mass. 

Uncertainty  due  to  politics  is  causing  disturbed  business 
conditions.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  but  combinations  of  farmers 
should  be  rendered  lawful.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law. 


129 

Ackerman  &  Brummel,  per  Max  Brummel,  Leather,  Boston, 
Mass. 

An  ambiguous  Sherman  Law  which  does  not  apply  to  pres- 
ent conditions;  decisions  of  the  courts  which  no  one  can  con- 
strue, and  no  statesman  here  who  can  solve  the  problem  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  general  business  man,  account  for  disturbed 
business  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed. 
It  is  too  old  for  this  century,  and  its  place  should  be  taken 
by  a  law  that  would  apply  to  present  conditions  of  trade.  As 
to  combinations  of  farmers,  a  restriction  of  necessities  of  life 
is  at  least  as  harmful  as  a  combination  of  manufacturers  to 
restrict  their  output  and  to  innate  prices  and  should  be  just 
as  unlawful.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

A.  McCallum,  Manufacturer  of  Silk  Hosiery,  Northampton, 
Mass. 

Cursed  politics  and  labor  unions,  which  go  hand  in  hand, 
are  responsible  for  the  present  disturbed  conditions.  Old  com- 
petitive methods  would  be  feasible  if  manufacturers  could  pro- 
cure competitive  labor.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended 
by  making  it  clear  to  the  average  business  man  what  it  really 
does  mean.  Let  us  have  a  national  incorporation  law,  by  all 
means,  if  the  law  is  so  framed  that  it  will  not  be  ambiguous  as 
to  its  meaning. 

T.   J.    Shaut,  President   and   Treasurer,    Ashland   Leather 
Company,  Ashland,  Ky. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  Sherman  Law 
—persecution,  not  prosecution,  of  corporations,  railroads  and 
so-called  trusts  by  the  Government;  too  much  newspaper  talk; 
and  the  prime  evil,  too  much  politics.  Election  of  President 
every  eight  or  ten  years  would,  it  seems  to  me,  be  more  accept- 
able to  the  people. 

C.  H.  Turner,  Lumber  Manufacturer,  Malone,  N.  Y. 

I  am  a  Eepublican  and  have  always  voted  that  ticket,  until 
last  year  I  voted  the  Democratic  ticket.  I  am  disgusted  with 
politics.  My  business,  lumber,  has  been  rotten  since  1907.  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Amend  or  repeal  the 
Sherman  Law. 

Clark  Bros.  Bolt  Company,  Milldale,  Conn. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable  to  a  limited  extent 
only.  A  return  to  old  competitive  methods  would  be  disastrous 
to  the  growth  and  to  the  best  interests  of  the  country.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  such  a  way  as  to  do  away 
with  the  necessitv  for  judicial  interlineations. 


130 

G.  F.  Steele,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager,  Nekoosa- 
Edwards  Paper  Company,  Port  Edwards,  Wis. 

A  return  to  the  old  competitive  methods  would  be  a  return 
to  barbarism,  and  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  feasible  in  this 
enlightened  age  to  force  a  return  to  such  methods.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  repealed.  I  believe  an  entirely  new  law 
should  be  enacted  making  it  possible  to  regulate  large  corpora- 
tions, through  commissions,  and  supervise  intelligently  corpora- 
tion methods.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  In- 
terstate Trade  Commission.  Too  much  politics  is  the  cause 
of  business  agitation. 

Horace  A.  Carter,  Treasurer  of  The  Wm.  Carter  Company, 
and  Treasurer  of  Springfield  Knitting  Company, 
Needham  Heights,  Mass. 

First,  waiting  for  the  interpretation  of  the  Sherman  Act, 
and,  second,  uncertainty  of  what  the  interpretation  really 
means;  unscientific  meddling  and  absence  of  sound  system  in 
dealing  with  the  tariff,  without  regard  to  business  founded  on 
tariff  basis — all  tend  to  unsettle  business.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  made  perfectly  clear  and  should  leave  no  doubt  as 
to  what  is  to  be  considered  restraint  of  *trade.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

The  Bessemer  Gas  Engine  Company,  Grove  City,  Pa. 

A  general  lack  of  confidence,  which  may  be  called  a  mental 
condition  arising  from  various  causes,  accounts,  in  some  degree, 
for  business  disturbance.  The  ever  increasing  drain  on  the 
producer  to  maintain  the  ever  increasing  number  of  non-pro- 
'ducers  in  the  various  asylums  and  jails  of  the  country,  is  no 
slight  factor  in  the  general  worriment.  Presidential  elections 
should  be  for  eight  or  twelve  years,  thus  removing  one  cause 
of  disturbance. 

Donald  McDonald,  Louisville,  Ky. 

My  OAvn  opinion  is  that  the  best  way  to  control  the  trusts 
is  to  put  the  tariff  down  to  a  point  which  will  permit  importa- 
tions whenever  prices  are  unduly  raised.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  so  as  to  allow  the  largest  combinations  of 
capital  and  the  most  economical  methods  of  doing  business, 
while  preventing  the  numerous  persecutions  of  individual  con- 
cerns with  which  all  business  men  are  familiar. 

Ralph  L.  Shainwald,  President,  The  Standard  Paint  Com- 
pany, New  York  City. 

Business  is  disturbed  chiefly  by  the  uncertainty  which 
checks  new  enter] irises.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended 
to  make  its  provisions  clear  to  all.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


131 

J.  L.  Record,  President,  Minneapolis  Steel  and  Machinery 
Company,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

In  my  judgment  a  Federal  incorporation  law  giving  the 
government  control  of  corporations  doing  interstate  business, 
and  compelling  all  corporations  doing  interstate  business  to 
incorporate  under  such  a  law;  and  the  creation  of  a  commerce 
or  trade  commission  to  exercise  and  control,  is  the  proper  rem- 
edy for  business  instability.  Of  course,  repealing  the  Sherman 
Law  and  enacting  a  new  one  permitting  trade  agreements  would 
be  necessary. 

Richardson  &  Boynton  Co.,  Manufacturers,  New  York. 

Interference  by  the  United  States  Government,  generally 
without  warrant  of  law — as  the  law  is  understood  by  the  people 
—has  had  much  to  do  with  unsettling  business.  If  lawyers  do 
not  know  the  meaning  of  the  Sherman  Law,  why  should  busi- 
ness men  know  it?  Universal  bankruptcy  would  result  from  a 
return  to  old  competitive  methods,  and  besides  the  people  do 
not  want  it  either.  "We  absolutely  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sher- 
man Law,  and,  if  necessary,  pass  a  new  law  that  is  comprehen- 
sive to  all,  and  only  a  practical  business  law. 

Geo.    E.   Keith,   Shoe    Manufacturer  and   Bank  President, 
Brockton,  Mass. 

Tariff  and  politics  are  making  all  the  trouble.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended  so  that  a  business  man  can  know 
how  he  can  conduct  his  business.  Trade  unions  should,  not  be 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  The  pres- 
ent labor  union  and  contractor  system  in  building  trade  of 
Brockton  is  a  great  trust.  I  don't  object  to  a  national  incor- 
poration law. 

E.    M.    Funkheuser,   President,   Roanoke   Gas  and   Water 
Company,  Roanoke,  Va. 

Theodore  Koosevelt's  theft  of  Bryan's  recognition  of  the 
innate  envy  of  man,  and  the  resulting  desire  to  take  from  the 
rich,  is  the  cause  of  present  disturbed  business  conditions. 
Either  repeal  the  Sherman  Law  or  make  it  plain  enough  for 
people  not  members  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  to 
understand.  I  am  opposed  to  a  national  incorporation  law, 
unless  State's  rights  is  but  a  dream. 

A.  W.  Chaffee,  Treasurer,  New  York  Net  and  Twine  Com- 
pany, Moodus,  Conn. 

What  caused  or  causes  the  present  disturbed  business  con- 
ditions ?  Damfino. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  think  favorably 
of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
not  be  repealed,  but  amended.  It  is  not  clear  and  workable. 


132 

Philip  T.  Dodge,  President,  Mergenthaler  Linotype  Com- 
pany, New  York  City. 

The  causes  of  .present  disturbed  business  conditions  are,  an 
indefinite,  drastic  law,  its  literal  interpretation  and  enforce- 
ment, political  pandering  to  the  rabble,  and  general  fear  and 
uncertainty  due  to  too  much  regulation,  too  many  laws,  and 
threatened  legislation.  I  see  little  advantage  and  many  dis- 
advantages in  a  national  incorporation  law.  A  Federal  license 
is  not  needed.  And  as  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  I 
say,  no,  let  private  business  alone.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  repealed,  or  amended  to  make  it  definite,  reasonable  and 
understandable. 

S.    L.    Gilbert,    Manager,   Armstrong   Cork    Company,   St. 
Louis,  Mo. 

Politics  and  political  catering  to  present  day  labor  unions 
are  potent  causes  of  business  unrest.  I  believe  that  the  Supreme 
Court  can  and  should  make  the  Sherman  Law  clear  and  work- 
able. While  I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return 
to  old  competitive  methods,  we  must  have  new  and  progressive 
competitive  business  ways.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law,  but  not  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

W.    H.    Childs,    Vice-President,    American   Coal   Products 
Company,  New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  cover  abuses  in 
morals.  I  am  not  yet  settled  in  mind  as  to  national  incorpora- 
tion and  Federal  license.  An  Interstate  Trade  Commission 
might  possibly  be  satisfactory.  Doubt  on  the  part  of  business 
as  to  what  is  lawful  is  the  cause  of  disturbed  business  con- 
ditions. 

James  R.  Nicholson,  President,  Harvard  Brewing  Company, 
Boston,  Mass. 

Over-capitalization,  "  insurgency,"  and  tariff  uncertainty 
are  disturbing  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed 
to  make  it  clear  as  to  its  meaning.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  a  Federal  license  law.  I  consider  as  particu- 
larly dangerous  -combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  pro- 
duction or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices. 

Holden-Leonard    Company,    Manufacturers    Ladies'    Dress 
Goods,  Bennington,  Vt. 

The  enforcement  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  agitation  of  the 
tariff  issue  are  at  present  the  chief  causes  of  business  unrest. 
The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be,  repealed  and  a  new  law  more 
in  accord  with  modern  business  conditions  should  take  its  place. 
We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 


133 

Frank  E.  Eckhart,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Eckhart  Car- 
riage Company,  Auburn,  Ind. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  a  law  should  be 
passed  regulating  all  combinations,  financial,  manufacturing, 
farming  and  labor.  Make  laws  that  favor  none,  but  put  all  on 
an  equality.  Combinations  at  the  present  time  are  necessary 
for  the  highest  development.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission. 

Julius  Heimann,  President,  Heimann  &  Lichten,  Manufac- 
turers of  Ladies'  Hats,  Monson,  Mass. 

Too  many  lawyers  in  our  legislative  bodies  and,  conse- 
quently, many  unnecessary  laws,  and  too  much  "playing  poli- 
tics "  to  the  galleries  have  brought  some  disturbance  upon  busi- 
ness. We  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  and  an  amend- 
ment of  the  Sherman  Law  so  that  it  will  be  made  perfectly 
clear  what  is  legal  and  what  is  illegal  for  corporations  doing 
interstate  business  to  do. 

E.  B.  Hazen,  Bridal  Veil  Lumbering  Company,  Bridal  Veil. 
Ore. 

I  favor  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission, but  not  a  national  incorporation  law.  The  Sherman 
Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission.  Too  much  anti-business  legislation 
and  agitation  are  responsible  for  the  existing  uncertainty  in 
business  affairs. 

W.  C.  Winter,  Pettibone,  Mulliken  &  Co.,  Railroad  Sup- 
plies, Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  Railroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  not  be 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  neither  should 
combinations  of  farmers,  assuming  the  act  remains  on  the 
statute  books.  Otherwise,  and  in  the  light  of  reason,  farmers 
should  be  allowed  to  form  such  combinations.  Why  not? 

John  Stambaugh,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  The  Youngs- 
town  Steel  Company,  Youngstown,  Ohio. 

The  causes  of  business  disturbance  are  mostly  economic. 
Political  uncertainty  has  made  it  worse.  I  favor  a  repeal  of 
the  Sherman  Law,  but  only  on  condition  that  other  legislation 
be  enacted  to  take  its  place.  It  should  be  amended  if  it  is  not 
superseded.  Amendments  should  more  clearly  define  and  pro- 
hibit harmful  combinations  of  capital  and  labor,  and  not  ham- 
per them  when  they  work  for  economic  and  moral  good. 


134 

T.  A.   Lemmon,  President,   Chicago,  Wilmington   &   Ver- 
million  Coal  Company,  Chicago,  111. 

Too  much  politics  and  too  much  tariff  tinkering  are  re- 
sponsible for  business  disturbance.  I  do  not  favor  old  competi- 
tive methods  as  a  general  proposition,  but  I  object  to  combina- 
tions of  capital  simply  formed  to  monopolize.  The  Sherman 
Act  should  be  amended  to  permit  price  agreements,  subject  to 
State  or  government  control  similar  to  the  German  scheme. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

George   E.   Foster,   President,   Mellen   Lumber   Company, 
Mellen,  Wis. 

We  should  have  "  regulation "  of  corporations  instead  of 
prosecution  and  persecution;  but  such  regulations  should  be 
non-political.  Corporations  as  a  rule  have  accomplished  more 
for  the  good  and  welfare  of  the  general  public  than  individ- 
uals could  or  would  have  done.  Farmers  and  laborers  must 
come  in  the  same  as  corporations.  Too  much  poor  politics  have 
caused  business  disturbance.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.  O.  Walker,  Secretary,  Escambia  Land  and  Manufacturing 
Company,  Pensacola,  Fla. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  operation  of  the  tariff  and  of  the  Sher- 
man Law,  and  too  frequent  political  upheavals,  are  disturbing 
business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  pro- 
vide for  national  examination  of  corporate  accounts ;  compulsory 
limitation  of  earnings  or  reduction  of  prices  of  commodities 
produced  when  earnings  reach  the  legal  maximum.  It  should 
also  prohibit  watered  stock. 

F.  C.  Ayres,  Treasurer,  J.  C.  Pearson  Company,  Boston, 
Mass. 

Lack  of  confidence  on  the  part  of  consumers  and  dealers, 
due  to  the  attitude  of  the  administration,  and  uncertainty  of 
interpretation  of  existing  laws  are  causes  of  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and 
the  enactment  of  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license 
law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Edward    C.    Hinman,   President,   American   Steam   Pump 
Company,  Battle  Creek,  Mich. 

Too  much  politics ;  too  little  patriotism  and  too  much  middle 
of  the  road,  have  caused  present  conditions  and  disturbance 
in  business.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed.  I  do 
not  favor  either  a  national  incorporation  law  or  a  Federal 
license  law.  as  wo  have  too  many  laws  already. 


135 

S.  H.  Fullerton,  President,  Chicago  Lumber  and  Coal  Com- 
pany and  Gulf  Lumber  Company,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Prosecution  and  persecution  of  the  business  interests  of  the 
country;  over-expansion  during  the  boom  years  before  1907; 
political  agitation  and  the  general  extravagance  of  all  the  people 
are  the  causes  of  business  anxiety  and  hesitancy.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  repealed  and  something  substituted  for  it 
that  can  be  understood  and  is  possible  of  enforcement.  Reason- 
able co-operation  should  be  permitted  in  every  line  of  manu- 
facturing in  order  to  prevent  waste  and  destructive  competition. 

George  Paxton  Diehl,  Vice-President,  Edgewood  Distilling 
Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license 
law,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Disturbed  business 
conditions  are  due  to  the  attempted  reform  of,  first,  railroad 
abuses;  second,  big  business  abuses;  third,  municipal  misgov- 
ermnent,  and,  fourth,  retail  liquor  traffic.  These  reforms  are 
too  violent  and  sudden  and  have  destroyed  confidence.  They 
savor  too  much  of  confiscation  and  restriction  of  constitutional 
liberty. 

C.  B.  Rockwell  (Cranston  Worsted  Mills),  Bristol,  R.  I. 

National  incorporation  might  be  made  a  good  thing,  espe- 
cially if  state  incorporations  were  done  away  with.  Overtrad- 
ing, tariff  legislation,  the  check  following  the  so-called  trust 
investigations,  government  inquiries  into  private  business,  and 
the  discussion  of  and  legislative  action  looking  toward  an  income 
tax  have  all  tended  to  disturb  business  conditions.  Some  speedy 
quietus  is  needed,  so  that  honest  business  can  proceed,  unham- 
pered by  doubt  of  the  future. 

Hewes  &  Potter,  Manufacturers  of  Suspenders  and  Belts, 
Boston,  Mass. 

An  Interstate  Trade  Commission  woul"d  be  all  right  if  it 
could  be  kept  out  of  politics,  and  we  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  Federal  license.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  made  to  harmonize  with  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
in  the  Standard  Oil  Case.  Fear  of  tariff  changes  and  the  ex- 
treme political  activity  usual  about  this  period  are  causing  busi- 
ness disturbance. 

Irish  Bros.,  Miners  and  Shippers  of  Coal,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Uncertainty  on  the  part  of  large  firms,  corporations  and 
railroads  as  to  procedure  under  the  Sherman  Act  is  the  lead- 
ing cause  of  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  repealed.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


13G 

F.   K.  Russell,  F.   K.  Russell  Machine  Company,  Dallas, 
Texas. 

The  Sherman  Act  should  either  be  amended  or  re-written 
altogether.  It  has  not  yet  been  made  clear  and  workable.  The 
public  and  the  press  are  evidently  determined  to  get  a  better 
hold  on  the  large  concerns  which  have  seemed  in  the  past  to 
be  above  public  or  governmental  interference.  Naturally  these 
changes  in  the  attitude  of  the  people  and  of  the  government 
tend  to  unsettle  conditions  for  the  time  being. 

C.  Arthur  Blair,  Chickasha  Milling  Company,  Apache,  Okla. 

Congress  should  pass  a  monetary  reform  bill  (Aldrich's 
suits  me),  also  a  "reasonable"  protective  tariff,  and  should 
then  adjourn;  then  let  the  country  adjust  itself  to  the  condi- 
tions these  bills  will  bring  about  and  all  will  be  well.  Too 
much  muckraking  about  Wall  street  tends  to  unsettle  people's 
minds  in  regard  to  their  investments.  Pass  the  bills  I  have 
mentioned  and  in  the  language  of  Mr.  Hanna,  "  Let  well 
enough  alone." 

J.  W.  Johnson,  President,  Johnson  &  Johnson,  Manufactur- 
ing Chemists,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

The  violent  prosecutions  under  the  Sherman  Law — which 
law  has  had  so  many  and  various  interpretations — none  of 
which  defines  what  a  business  man  may  or  may  not  do,  have 
caused  most  of  the  present  disturbance.  I  favor  government 
supervision  over  certain  lines  of  business,  as  in  national  banks, 
a  national  incorporation  law,  and  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

Harry  Ainsworth,  Vice-President,  Williams,  White  &  Co., 
Machinery,  Moline,  111. 

Too  much  high  finance  on  the  one  hand,  that  is,  on  the 
part  of  some  of  the  great  corporations,  and  the  small  profits 
which  railroads  are  making  on  the  other  hand,  tend,  in  my 
opinion,  to  unsettle  business.  So  far  as  high  prices  are  con- 
cerned, farmers  do  not  get  them.  The  middleman  is  chiefly 
responsible  for  high  prices,  and  the  farmers  should  be  permitted 
to  combine  for  self-protection. 

Franklin  Remington,  President  Foundation  Company,  Con- 
tractors and  Engineers,  New  York. 

Originally,  overbearing  and  grasping  behavior  of  certain 
trusts,  producing  drastic  legislation  affecting  good  and  bad 
alike,  now  political  gallery  playing  preceding  a  Presidential 
election.  What  is  needed  now  is  more  education  of  the  voters 
so  that  the  political  parties  will  be  forced  to  respond  to  the 
demand  for  stable  business  conditions. 


137 

H.  J.  Fleming,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  Bonet  Construction 
Company ;  Member  firm,  Bonet  &  Fleming ;  Manager, 
Chipman  Knitting  Mills,  Easton,  Pa. 

Jn  view  of  failure  to  enforce  existing  statutes  during  a 
long  period  of  constructive  prosperity,  the  lack  of  legislative 
control  of  contemporaneous  development,  and  the  condition  of 
our  commercial  and  industrial  growth,  making  it  necessary  for 
the  future  welfare  of  the  nation  to  enforce  the  statutes  enacted 
for  the  control  of  business,  as  conducted  at  the  present  time, 
this  enforcement  naturally  excites  a  disturbance  in  the  trade, 
which  in  time  will  be  allayed.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
made  clearer.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  for  cor- 
porations doing  an  interstate  business,  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

Hugo  Morrisey,  President,  Jefferson  City  Water  Works 
Company,  Jefferson  City,  Mo. 

I  would  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  in  a  general 
way,  provided  it  could  be  established  without  interfering  too 
much  with  the  right  of  capitalists  to  control  their  own  affairs, 
or  with  the  rights  of  the  States  to  control  their  citizens.  There 
lias  already  been  too  much  legislation  both  in  nation  and  State 
infringing  upon  individual  rights  and  denying  to  citizens  the 
square  deal  to  which  every  one  is  entitled. 

R.  D.  Smith,  Local  Manager  for  Edwards  &  Bradford 
Lumber  Company,  Center,  Neb. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  control  prices 
and  prevent  excessive  rise,  as  well  as  a  disastrous  slump.  Such 
an  amendment  would  protect  alike  the  consumer  and  the  small 
manufacturer. 

Prices  have  been  very  high,  and  every  business  man  feels 
that  they  are  approaching  a  limit,  and  there  is  a  general  dispo- 
sition to  hedge  in  fear  of  a  break  that  would  cause  heavy  loss 

L.  A.  Ault,  President,  The  Ault  &  Wiborg  Company,  Manu- 
facturers, Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

I  am  in  favor  of  national  incorporation  for  corporations 
doing  an  interstate  business,  and  would  have  them  amenable 
only  to  the  national  authorities.  Such  a  change  would  go  far 
toward  removing  the  causes  of  present  unrest  and  apprehension, 
and  business  men  would  be  able  then  to  know  exactly  what 
they  could  do  within  the  bounds  of  Federal  law. 

Aberdeen  Mill  Company,  Aberdeen,  S.  D. 

We  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable.  Trade 
unions  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  not  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  unless  it  be  made  law- 
ful for  every  industry  to  have  a  similar  privilege. 


138 

Alfred  Stanley,  Manager  Livermore  Falls  Pulp  Company, 
Plymouth,  N.  H. 

A  disposition  on  the  part  of  government  officials  and  poli- 
ticians to  constantly  harass  large  corporations,  even  when  they 
are  earnestly  trying  to  do  business  legally,  as  they  understand 
the  law,  cannot  fail  to  disturb  general  business.  As  a  nation 
we  have  become  great  by  the  development  of  our  national  re- 
sources. Development  today  or  encouragement  to  develop  is 
being  discouraged.  Too  much  said  about  "  conservation "  of 
our  resources.  If  capital  is  to  be  interested  to  take  the  gold 
or  coal  from  frozen  Alaska,  let  them  combine  and  make  money 
if  they  can  in'  doing  it.  The  men  or  corporations  that  get 
hold  of  gold  are  good  spenders.  It  will  do  all  of  us  more 
good  than  to  conserve  it  in  Alaska. 

F.  E.  Nusen,  care  Missouri  Malleable  Iron  Company,  East 
St.  Louis,  111. 

Too  much  agitation  against  the  railroads  and  large  indus- 
trial corporations  and  fear  of  radical  changes  in  our  tariff  are 
making  business  men  uneasy.  The  suit  against  the  U.  S. 
Steel  Corporation,  whose  dealings  have  been  notoriously  far 
and  broad  gauge,  has  clearly  manifested  that  the  Sherman 
Law  is  not  a  measure  that  can  be  regarded  as  clear  and  work- 
able. Our  strongest  European  competitors  are  fostering  the 
large  aggregations  of  capital,  and  under  the  old  methods  of 
competition  we  would  soon  drop  behind  in  the  industrial  race. 

Houston  Lowe,  Capitalist  and  President  The  Lowe  Bros. 
Company,  Dayton,  Ohio. 

\\ 'c  need  government  control  of  corporations,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  enactment  of  a  law,  after  careful  deliberation, 
that  the  corporations  can  safely  work  by.  Overcapitalism  is, 
in  my  judgment,  the  cause  of  present  disturbed  conditions.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  the  amendment  of  the 
Sherman  Law,  as  I  have  indicated. 

George  O.  Carpenter,  Manufacturer,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

We  need  a  revised  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  to  meet  present 
conditions — the  conditions  of  1912  instead  of  those  of  1890.  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  of  business  men  under 
the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 

Willis  K.  Jackson,  Manufacturer  Lumber  etc.,  Buffalo,  N.Y, 

I  favor  an  amendment  of  the  Sherman  Law  according  to  the 
plan  outlined  by  former  President  Roosevelt.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. Business  is  not  half  as  much  disturbed  as  people 
think. 


139 

George  F.  Woolston,  Manager,  The  Bishop-Babcock-Becker 
Company,  New  York  City. 

Senseless  political  agitation,  muckraking  newspaper  and 
magazine  articles  and  overzealous  workers  in  the  cause  of  re- 
form are  some  of  the  causes  that  have  led  to  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable, 
but  it  is  liable  to  cost  some  "  good  "  trusts  and  their  poor  stock- 
holders a  lot  of  money.  What  we  want  is  common  sense  in 
carrying  out  the  spirit  and  intention  of  the  law.  We  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion, with  proper  restrictions. 

Libbey  &  Dingley  Company,  Cotton  and  Woolen  Manu- 
facturers, Lewiston,  Me. 

Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation 
of  the  Sherman  Act  unless  everybody  and  everything  be  ex- 
cepted— why  should  they  be?  We  see  no  reason  why  farmers 
should  be  given  privileges  denied  to  others  just  as  honest. 

If  those  elected  to  enact  laws  governing  such  matters  as 
are  contained  in  your  questions  do  not  do  a  good  job  through 
lack  of  capacity,  or  otherwise,  leave  them  at  home  the  next 
trip. 

Abner  Morse,  Morse  Brothers,  Canton,  Mass. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  attitude  of  the  government  toward 
large  investment*  of  capital,  together  with  the  agitation  re- 
garding the  tariff  and  the  probability  of  tariff  changes,  are  the 
causes  of  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  should  de- 
fine what  constitutes  an  illegal  combination  or  monopoly  in 
restraint  of  trade,  giving  large  investments  of  capital  an  op- 
portunity to  do  business  in  a  manner  fair  to  smaller  competi- 
tors. T  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

Joseph  D.  Bascom,  Broderick  &  Bascom  Rope  Company, 
St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  appli- 
cable to  such  cases  only  as  involve  moral  turpitude.  Fear  and 
uncertainty,  brought  about  by  apprehension  of  drastic  and  un- 
reasonable interpretation  of  the  Sherman  Law,  are  the  causes 
of  present  disturbed  conditions  in  business.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

E.  Ira  Richards  &  Co.,  Manufacturing  Jewelers,  New  York 
City. 

We  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable.  We 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  In- 
terstate Trade  Commission.  Extravagance  of  living  and  the 
apprehension  that  exists  on  the  part  of  capital  in  relation  to 
the  treatment  of  investments  by  governmental  authority  are 
among  the  causes  of  business  disturbance. 


140 

Charles    A.    Eaton    Company,    Manufacturers    Boots    and 
Shoes,  Brockton,  Mass.,  and  Augusta,  Me. 

Prosecutions  and  the  destruction  of  confidence  in  the  man- 
agement and  development  of  great  industries,  also  too  much 
playing  to  the  galleries  on  the  part  of  our  political  leaders, 
are  disturbing  business  conditions.  I  am  opposed  to  a  return 
of  old  competitive  methods,  if  it  means  the  stopping  of  the 
continued  development  of  consolidated  business  enterprises  that 
insures  economy  of  production  and  distribution.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  made  perfectly  plain  in  its  operation  and  appli- 
cation, so  that  the  rights  of  all  shall  be  respected  and  pro- 
tected. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  Jaw. 

W.  A.  Gaines  &  Co.,  Distillers,  Frankfort,  Ky. 

Intemperate  and  theatrical  methods,  which  have  been  em- 
ployed in  attacks  on  large  interests,  and  the  tariff  question 
are  chief  causes  of  business  disturbance.  We  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  for  public  utilities  and  corporations  engaged 
in  interstate  commerce.  We  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  except  for  corporations  that  may  be  incorporated 
under  a  national  law.  The  Sherman  Law  should  clearly  de- 
fine all  those  questions  that  must  now  be  decided  by  courts  in 
each  individual  case  through  long  and  expensive  litigation. 

Dickson  Q.  Brown,  President  of  Associated  Producers  Com- 
pany (Petroleum  Producers),  New  York  City. 

Uncertain  interpretation  of  the  law  and  the  continual  pres- 
sure of  politicians  on  business  men,  whether  the  latter  are 
honest  or  not,  are  chief  causes  of  business  disturbance.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law  or  a  Federal  license  law,  and  I 
also  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  I  do  not  oppose  a 
law  regulating  corporations,  but  do  think  that  the  law  should  be 
clear  and  simple. 

R.   B.   Pitts,  President  and  Treasurer,   Hermitage   Cotton 
Mills,  Camden,  S.  C. 

Too  much  "tinkering  "  is  the  matter  with  business.  I  favor 
a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval 
and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  and 
combinations  of  farmers  should  be  permitted,  unless  such  action 
should  be  in  the  nature  of  a  "  corner/'' 

Indianapolis  Mortar  and  Fuel  Company,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

We  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable,  and 
that  there  is  no  need  of  amending  it.  We  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law,  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Business  disturbance  is  due  to  uncertainty. 


141 

S.  F.  Seager,  Seager  Engine  Works,  Lansing,  Mich. 

If  not  repealed,  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to 
permit  legitimate  business  combinations.  I  believe  in  a  national 
incorporation  law;  1  also  favor  a  Federal  license  law,  pro- 
vided State  laws  are  done  away  with  and  replaced  by  a  single 
Federal  law.  I  am  for  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  as  it 
seems  to  be  the  only  way  out.  Enforcement  of  the  Sherman 
Law,  which  is  totally  unfit  for  our  present  conditions,  is  the 
chief  cause  of  business  disturbance.  I  believe  government  reg- 
ulation necessary,  but  do  not  believe  the  Sherman  Law  can  be 
made  a  proper  means,  and  that  Federal  incorporation,  uniform 
in  all  States,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  are  the  only 
practical  solution. 

P.  T.  Jackson,  Jr.,  Vice-President,  International  Cotton 
Mills  Corporation;  Treasurer,  Bay  State  Cotton  Cor- 
poration; President,  Boston  Yarn  Company,  and 
Treasurer  of  three  Cotton  Mills,  Boston,  Mass. 

Business  readjusting  itself  to  the  recent  trust  decisions  of 
the  Supreme  Court  is  the  cause  of  any  unsettled  feeling  that 
exists.  I  do  not  believe  in  trying  to  legislate  away  competi- 
tion, as  it  is  a  natural  law,  and  to  interfere  with  it  is  certain 
to  upset  business  in  the  long  run.  I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman 
Law  as  clear  and  workable.  It  should  be  amended  to  define 
more  clearly  what  constitutes  a  monopoly. 

A.  T.  Eastwick,  Treasurer,  James  Lees  &  Sons  Company, 
Bridgeport,  Pa. 

The  prosecution  of  the  so-called  trusts  under  the  Sherman 
Law,  and  the  apparent  agitation  which  many  fear  will  result 
in  sufficient  reductions  to  cripple  the  industries,  especially  the 
textile  industries  under  Schedule  K,  are  the  causes  of  the  un- 
settled feeling  in  business  circles.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  amended  so  as  to  permit  large  combinations  of  capital,  under 
proper  regulation  and  control  of  the  government.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

Genesee  Lumber  Company,  Genesee,  La. 

Too  much  socialism  in  the  press,  the  government  and  the 
people,  is  causing  business  disturbance.  We  say  yes  to  a  na- 
tional incorporation  law  as  the  lesser  of  the  evils,  and  we  would 
be  for  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  only  as  a  last  resort. 
We  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  It  is  an  attempt  to 
turn  back  the  stream  of  time. 

W.  N.  Small,  President,  El  Paso  Foundry  and  Machinery 
Company,  El  Paso,  Texas. 

Jail  sentence  instead  of  fines,  is  the  amendment  needed  in 
the  Sherman  Law. 


142 

Arthur  Meeker,  Armour  &  Co.,  Union  Stockyards,  Chicago, 
111. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  largely  due  to  the  prose- 
cution of  corporations  under  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law. 
I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment  of  a 
national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law,  and  an  In- 
terstate Trade  Commission.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval 
and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade 
unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Act,  but  combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production 
or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  rendered 
lawful. 

Henry  C.  Bannard,  United  Breweries  Company,  Chicago, 
111. 

What  caused  or  causes  the  present  disturbed  business  con- 
ditions ?  Too  much  Wickersham  ! 

The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed.  Trade  unions 
should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 
if  it  is  not  to  be  repealed.  As  to  combinations  of  farmers,  I 
think  the  Kentucky  night  riders  should  be  punished.  I  am 
not  in  favor  of  an  Interstate  Trade  'Commission. 

Henry  W.  Wellington,   Henry  W.  Wellington  Company, 
Silver  Lake,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  American's  "  get  rich  quick  "  is  the  cause  of  disturbed 
business  conditions.  The  Shernian  Law  should  be  repealed.  The 
railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  and 
farmers  should  be  allowed  to  combine.  I  favor  a  national  in- 
corporation law,  a  Federal  license,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

E.  D.  Sweet,  Manager,  Long-Bell  Lumber  Company,  Cedar 
Vale,  Kan. 

Knockers  in  the  way  of  politicians  seeking  a  following,  and 
too  many  inferior  lawyers  making  our  hvws.  make  the  trouble 
for  business.  Give  us  good  level-headed  business  men  for  our 
lawmakers  and  business  will  be  0.  K.  again.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law.  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed. 

G.  W.  Campbell,  Campbell  Lumber  Company,  Marlington, 
W.  Va. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  sys- 
tem, but  not  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Lack  of  confi- 
dence in  the  present  national  administration  and  fear  of  a  worse 
one  to  come  is  behind  our  business  anxiety. 


143 

The  Goehring  Manufacturing  Company,  Mirrors,  Sash  and 
Doo'rs,  Akron,  Ohio. 

General  disturbed  conditions  and  overproduction  are  the 
causes  of  unrest.  The  country  has  sent  too  many  attorneys  to 
Washington,  and  not  enough  business  men,  for  the  general  pros- 
perity. We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  think  that 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  might  be  necessary.  The  gov- 
ernment should  grant  the  corporations  a  charter  outlining  what 
they  can  do,  not  only  in  one  State,  but  any  State  in  the  Union. 
This  charter  should  outline  what  they  are  allowed  to  do  and 
what  they  cannot  do.  Trade  unions  should  be  granted  a  charter 
the  same  as  any  corporation,  and  this  would  outline  what  they 
would  be  allowed  to  do.  Combinations  of  farmers  should  be 
encouraged,  but  they  should  take  out  a  corporation  license  the 
same  as  any  other  corporation,  which  would  outline  what  they 
could  do  and  what  they  could  not  do. 

V.  L.  Price,  Vice-President,  National  Candy  Company,  St. 
Louis,  Mo. 

Too  much  legislation  and  talk  on  the  part  of  public  of- 
ficials have  caused  disturbed  business  conditions.  We  favor  a 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  but  if  not  repealed,  its  amendment, 
so  that  it  will  allow  reasonable,  but  not  restrictive,  intercourse 
between  business  houses  in  the  same  line  of  business.  We 
f;i\or  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license,  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

C.  T.  Wynkoop,  Russell-Miller  Milling  Company,  Bismarck, 
N.  D. 

Fast  living,  and  corporations  striving  to  pay  dividends  on 
over-capitalization,  are  the  causes  of  disturbance  in  business. 
The  Sherman  Law  as  it  reads  is  all  right.  I  don't  agree  with 
the  interpretation  placed  on  it  by  the  court.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law.  Federal  license,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

Chas.  E.  Schou,  Assistant  Treasurer  and  General  Sales 
Manager,  Empire  Cream  Separator  Company, 
Chicago,  111. 

We  certainly  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  and  a 
national  incorporation  law.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made 
clearer  to  business  men.  Uncertainty  is  the  cause  of  present 
disturbed  business  conditions. 

H.  H.  Franklin  Manufacturing  Company,  Automobiles  and 
Finished  Castings,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  more  clear 
and  workable.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Dis- 
turbance in  business  is  due  largely  to  trust  prosecution  and 
tariff  agitation. 


144 

Daniel  Wells,  Lumber  Manufacturer,  Detroit,  Mich. 

The  monetary  situation — and  behind  that  the  inevitable  ebb 
tuid  flow  of  all  life — is  responsible  for  any  disturbed  business 
conditions.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  We  must  have  a 
merchant  marine.  Foreigners  carry  all  our  goods.  They  laugh 
at  us.  Our  plight  is  idiotic,  We  must  have  free  lumber  from 
Canada.  It  is  not  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  old  competi- 
tive methods.  Competition  is  the  death  of  industry.  I  would 
favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  providing  there  is  a  substi- 
tute made.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 
Sherman  Act.  A  labor  trust  is  imminent. 

Summer-field  Baldwin,  Woodward,  Baldwin  &   Co.,  Balti- 
more, Md. 

Labor  unions,  strikes  and  boycotts;  excessive  speculation  in 
commodities,  stocks  and  bonds;  a  Democratic  House  with  imo— 
ti  gating  committees  galore,  and  tampering  with  the  tariff  by  a 
lot  of  men  who  know  little  or  nothing  about  it,  are  the  causes 
of  disturbed  business  conditions.  I  do  not  believe  the  country 
could  hold  its  trade  if  it  returned  to  old  competitive  methods. 
The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear,  and  Governor  Harmon,  when 
attorney-general  under  Mr.  Cleveland,  said  it  was  not  workable. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  accord  with  the  deci- 
sions of  the  Supreme  Court. 

William    M.    Pratt,    Goodell-Pratt    Company,    Toolsmiths, 
Greenfield,  Mass. 

Political  stage  play  is  causing  the  trouble  in  business.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  either  be  repealed  or  amended  so  that 
it  will  be  honorable  and  not  criminal  to  do  business.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law  of  the  proper  kind,  and  an  In- 
terstate Trade  Commission. 

E.  C.  Bellamy,  General  Manager,  Mammoth  Spring  Electric 
Light  and  Power  Company,  Mammoth  Spring,  Ark. 

Labor  and  anticipated  political  changes  are  the  causes  of  ex- 
isting business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  has  been  made 
clear  and  workable.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal 
license,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

L.    M.    Butman,    Secretary    and    Treasurer,    The    Empire 
Worsted  Mills,  Jamestown,  N.  Y. 

Bad  politics  is  the  cause  of  disturbed  business  conditions. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  control  rather 
than  disrupt.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  we 
regard  a  return  to  former  competitive  methods  as  feasible,  if 
under  government  "control. 


145 

Brown  Brothers  Lumber  Company,  Rhinelander,  Wis. 

Kecuperation  from  the  reaction  that  was  bound  to  come 
after  an  unprecedented  period  of  prosperity  and  the  prosecu- 
tion of  some  of  the  trusts,  with  the  uncertainty  of  the  results 
therefrom,  are  the  two  underlying  causes  of  business  disturb- 
ance. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  a  proper  sub- 
stitute enacted.  We  favor  a  law  placing  the  larger  companies 
engaged  in  interstate  business  under  Federal  supervision  and 
making  definite  rules  for  the  guidance  of  such  companies.  We 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  ente/  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. 

J.   Langeloth,   Chairman,  The  American   Metal   Company, 
New  York. 

Confidence  has  been  destroyed  by  the  government  tr}dng  to 
enforce  laws  that  were  not  defined.  Capitalists  became  fright- 
ened, and  trade  suffered  in  practically  all  directions.  We  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law,  and  unless  such  a  law  is  passed, 
we  would  favor  a  Federal  license.  If  not  repealed,  the  Sher- 
man law  should  be  amended  in  such  a  way  as  to  enable  business 
men  and  corporations  to  know  what  to  do. 

A.  W.   Brooks,  Treasurer,   Pratt  Shoe   Company,   Natick, 
Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  If  amended  it  should 
permit  large  combinations,  such  as  the  United  States  Steel  Com- 
pany et  al.,  to  conduct  their  business  under  thorough  super- 
vision, under  one  unit,  instead  of  several,  as  proposed  by  the 
courts.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Josiah  Howard,  President,  C.  B.  Howard  Company,  Lumber 
Manufacturers,  Emporium,  Pa. 

I  believe  that  affairs  are  adjusting  themselves  on  a  surer 
and  more  prosperous  basis  than  ever.  Overcredit  and  political 
agitation  have  caused  whatever  disturbance  exists.  The  Sher- 
man Law  is  clear  and  workable  and  not  ready  for  amendment 
as  yet.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation,  law.  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

P.  J.  Brix,  Brix  Logging  Company,  Oneida,  Wash. 

The  causes  of  disturbance  in  business  are  the  uncertain 
conditions  in  regard  to  legislation  and  the  decisions  of  the 
courts.  The  general  business  world  is  at  sea  and,  consequently, 
must  wait  for  developments.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law. 


14(5 

The  John  Wildi  Evaporated  Milk  Company,  Highland,  111. 

Too  much  politics  and  too  much  agitation,  without  reason- 
able consideration  of  the  subject  by  those  who  do  the  agitating, 
are  causing  trouble  in  business.  All  corporations  should  be 
compelled  to  sell  at  reasonable  price's  and  depend,  as  the  rail- 
roads do,  on  superior  service,  bustle  and  goods  to  secure  the 
business;  thus  too  high  or  too  low  prices  would  be  prevented. 
We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should  he 
repealed  or,  if  amended,  it  should  provide  for  reasonable  con- 
trol of  corporations  without  unreasonable  restrictions. 

D.  M.  Sechler,  Manufacturer  of  Agricultural  Implements, 
etc.,  Moline,  111. 

The  President  and  Attorney  (Jeiieral  are  principally  re- 
sponsible for  causing  the  present  disturbed  business  conditions. 
I  would  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  if  it  will  relieve 
corporations  from  the  burdens  imposed  by  the  various  States. 
If  the  law  would  be  on  the  line  of  one  introduced  in  Congress 
two  years  ago,  which  provided  for  a  continuance  of  State  op- 
pression and  added  one  more  for  the  nation,  I  would  say,  "  Xo." 

John  W.  Tuthill,  President  John  W.  Tuthill  Lumber  Com- 
pany, Sioux  Falls,  S.  D. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if  composed  of 
expert  and  experienced  business  men,  without  any  politicians. 
Political  agitation  and  the  activity  of  the  government  in  trying 
to  enforce  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  are  responsible  for  any 
disturbance  in  business.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  a  Federal  license  law.  The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be 
repealed  and  does  not  at  present  require  amending. 

Albert   Canz,   President   of  the   National   Capital   Brewing 
Company,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  high  prices  of  articles  manufactured  by  trusts  and 
the  high  tariff  on  the  necessaries  of  daily  life  are  the  causes 
of  business  disturbance.  Combinations  of  farmers  ought  to  be 
made  lawful  and  railroads  should  be  all  owed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

John  H.  Flint,  Treasurer,  Tyer  Rubber  Company,  Andover, 
Mass. 

We  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  repealed.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  Business  disturbance  is  due  to  politicians 
causing  trouble  by  their  appeals  to  different  elements,  irrespect- 
ive of  the  interests  of  the  country  at  large. 


147 

J.  Walter  Freiberg,  President,  The  Freiberg  &  Workum 
Company,  Distillers,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

T  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should  he  repealed,  unless 
it  may  be  so  amended  as  io  enable  persons  to  know  whether  or 
not  they  are  operating  within  the  Jaw  without  awaiting  the  de- 
cision of  the  court.  Lack  of  confidence,  due  to  attacks  and 
threats  of  attacks  on  the  part  of  the  government,  and  general 
fear  of  legislation  based  upon  political  expediency,  instead  of 
scientific  investigation,  is  troubling  business.  Tiailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

W.  J.  Olcott,  President,  Oliver  Iron  Mining  Company,  Du- 
luth,  Minn. 

Present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  errors  of 
both  labor  and  capital.  The  uncertainty  as  to  the  exact  mean- 
ing of  the  Sherman  Law.  The  apparent  unfavorable  attitude 
of  government  officials  towards  large  corporations,  and  their 
efforts  to  return  to  destructive  competition.  Too  much  legis- 
lation by  incompetent  representatives.  Too  much  cheap  poli- 
tics and  too  little  statesmanship.  Too  little  encouragement 
towards  developing  our  great  national  industries  and  the  un- 
certainty as  to  an  adequate  return  on  legitimate  investments. 

A.  D.  Hawley,  Treasurer  and  General  Manager,  The  Bristol 
Manufacturing  Company,  Knit  Underwear,  Bristol 
and  Plainville,  Conn. 

LTncertainty  as  to  the  government's  attitude  regarding  fur- 
ther proceedings  against  large  business  by  the  Federal  authori- 
ties is  the  'principal  cause  of  business  agitation.  We  favor  a 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and,  in  its  place,  the  making  of  a 
new  law  up  to  date.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and,  possibly.  Federal  license. 

C.  S.  Butterfield,  Lumber  Manufacturer,  Norfield,  Miss. 

Too  much  paternalism,  viz.:  Interference  by  the  general 
government  and  by  State  governments  with  State  corpora- 
tions and  the  conduct  of  their  business,  have  caused  the  pres- 
ent disturbed  conditions.  T  am  in  favor  of  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law,  and  if  it  is  not  to  be  repealed,  then  in  favor 
of  amending  it  to  bring  it  in  line  with  the  modern  situation. 

The  Lippincott  Glass  Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  causes  of  business  disturbance  are  attacks  on  capital 
employed  when  organized  to  steady  prices;  the  very  moderate 
crop  yield,  and  the  growth  of  socialistic  influences.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  made  more  reasonable,  definite  and  clear. 
so  that  an  ordinary  individual  mav  know  where  he  stands. 


148 

Frank  J.  Whitney,  Vice-President,  Wachusett  Shirt  Com- 
pany, Leominster,  Mass. 

The  principle  of  the  Sherman  Law  is  right;  its  interpreta- 
tion is  vague  and  tentative.  We  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  rendered 
lawful  to  a  reasonable  degree.  Business  disturbance  is  due  to 
readjustments  under  the  Sherman  Law,  to  the  absence  of  a 
sound  banking  policy  and  to  the  need  of  a  permanent,  non- 
partisan  tariff  commission. 

N.  E.  Loomis,  The  Mosaic  Tile  Company,  Zanesville,  Ohio. 

Unless  we  return  to  the  old  methods,  bad  as  they  were,  it 
will  only  be  a  short  time  before  we  will  have  no  business  to 
attend  to.  The  Sherman  Law  should  either  be  repealed  or  it 
should  stand  unenforced,  as  was  the  case  for  several  years. 
If  it  is  not  to  be  repealed  it  should  be  so  framed  as  to  include 
every  combination,,  banks,  insurance  companies,  churches, '  farm- 
ers, trade  unions,  etc.,  etc. 

Joseph  Klee's  Sons,  Clothing  Manufacturers,  Moundsville, 
W.  Va. 

Too  much  national  and  State  legislation  of  a  character  that 
tends  to  agitate  the  public  mind  and  too  many  demagogues 
going  around  talking  loosely  and  recklessly  for  their  own  po- 
litical advantage  are  causing  political  disturbance.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  not  be  repealed  or  amended.  I  favor  a  na- 
tional incorporation  law  and  Federal  license. 

Warner,  Moore  &  Co.,  Manufacturers  of  Flour,  Meal,  etc., 
and  Dealers  in  Building  Supplies,  Richmond,  Va. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  in  order  to  stop  the 
attack  on  corporations.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  It  is  the  worst  trust 
we  ever  had.  Attacks  on  corporations  and  too  much  politics 
interfering  with  business  are  the  causes  of  the  present  disturb- 
ance. 

G.  W.  Fuller,  Vice-President  and  General  Manager,  A.  S. 
Cameron  Steam  Pump  Works,  New  York  City. 

The  threat  of  drastic  application  of  the  Sherman  Law  has 
unsettled  confidence  and  restricted  investment  in  new  business. 
.Repeal  the  Sherman  Law,  pass  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  create  a  permanent  tariff  commission  with  plenary  powers, 
subject  only  to  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States. 


1-19 

J.  S.  Ralston,  President,  The  Ralston  Steel  Car  Company, 
Columbus,  Ohio. 

Political  ghost  dancers  and  demagogues  of  the  United  States 
— of  the  Senator  Pomerene  kind — are  causing  disturbed  business 
conditions.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  is 
not  clear  and  workable  and  ought  to  be  repealed.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  and  combinations 
of  farmers  should  be  lawful. 

Abram  C.  Mott,  Manufacturer,  Heating  and  Cooking  Ap- 
paratus, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  government  trying  to  stop  the  economic  business  tide, 
is  causing  the  present  business  disturbance.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  cer- 
tainly not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Law, 
as  they  are  the  greatest  known  combination  for  the  restriction 
of  production  and  competition.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

T.  Frank  Stevens,  Treasurer,  Maine  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany (Refrigerators  and  Ice  Chests),  Nashua,  N.  H. 

A  permanent  tariff  board  should  be  created  by  Congress,, 
as  the  present  unrest  is  due  to  a  great  extent  to  uncertainty 
regarding  the  tariff.  While  I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to 
attempt  to  return  to  what  are  known  as  old  competitive  methods, 
I  think  that,  to  a  large  extent,  competition  ought  to  be  restored. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

F.  P.  Boynton,  Boynton  &  Co.,  Manufacturers  of  Mould- 
ings, etc.,  Chicago,  111. 

Political  agitation  due  to  the  approaching  election  and  the 
over-production  of  stock  issues  not  based  on  value,  I  think,  are 
helping  to  disturb  business  conditions.  An  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  and  a  Federal  license  law  would  help  to  improve 
the  situation.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that 
its  meaning  would  be  beyond  question. 

J.  Alex.  Hayden,  Manufacturer  and  Decorator,  The  Hayden 
Company,  New  York  City. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  attacking  large  business  cor- 
porations according  to  a  law  on  our  statute  books,  which  law 
has  been  to  my  mind  shown  to  be  unworkable.  A  law  should 
be  made  correcting  any  abuses  on  the  part  of  large  combina- 
tions of  capital  which  may  be  detrimental  to  the  general  wel- 
fare of  the  people  of  the  United  States  of  America. 


150 

John  W.   Nary,  President   and   Treasurer,   Worsted  Mills, 
Trenton,  N.  J. 

Radicalism  and  tariff  agitation  are  causing  business  uncer- 
tainty. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  more 
easily  understood.  The  existence  of  a  holding  company  should 
not  in  itself  constitute  a  violation  of  law,  if  there  is  no  oilier 
violation  connected  witli  such  company.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

M.  H.  Taylor,   Pittsburgh  Coal  Company,  Erie,  Pa. 

Overtrading  and  overproduction  arc  the  principal  causes  of 
business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended 
to  clearly  specify  what  constitutes  offenses  against  it.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.,  sub- 
ject to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  1  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law.  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

Charles  H.  Lindenberg,  The  M.  C.  Lilley  Company,  Manu- 
facturers, Columbus,  Ohio. 

Principally  uncertainty  as  to  what  will  be  done  by  the  trust* 
and  the  tariff  is  the  trouble  with  business  to-day.  The  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  does  not  impress  me  favorably,  for  I 
favor  no  law  that  promotes  State  Socialism.  The  attempt  to 
fix  prices  of  manufactured  goods  by  law  or  by  commission  is 
very  different  from  fixing  prices  for  public  utilities. 

A.  B.  Rinehart,  President,  The  Akron  Belting  Company, 
Akron,  Ohio. 

Politicians  playing  to  the  public  (although  the  public  are 
becoming  tired  of  their  antics)  have  had  much  to  do  with  di<- 
turbing  business.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  but  am 
not  in  favor  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  or  a  Federal 
license  law.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed. 

Frank  H.  Payne,  Metric  Metal  Works,  Erie,  Pa. 

Insincere  legislators  and  subterfuge  legislation — /'.  e.,  legisla- 
tion against  somebody,  something  or  some  corporate4  interest 
other  than  found  in  a  legislator's  own  constituency,  instead  of 
legislation  for  the  general  welfare  of  the  nation — are  causing 
most  of  the  trouble.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law, 
which  is  neither  clear  nor  workable. 

James  Rogers,  President,  J.  &  J.  Rogers   Company,  Pulp 
and  Paper  Manufacturers,  Ausable  Forks,  N.  Y. 

So  far  as  the  paper  and  pulp  interest  is  concerned,  the  dam- 
age to  its  business  is  almost  if  not  wholly  caused  by  the 
paper  and  pulp  clause  in  the  Canadian  KVciprocity  Act.  The 
Sherman  Law  is  reasonablv  clear  and  workable. 


151 

J.  E.  Patterson,  Merchant  and  Manufacturer,  Wilkes-Barre, 
Pa. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  business.  I  do  not  favor  changing  the  Sherman  Anti- 
Trust  Act;  additional  legislation  may.be  needed.  If  "water- 
ing "  stocks  is  meant  by  overcapitalization,  then  I  favor  gov- 
ernment regulation  of  capitalization.  1  also  favor  laws  applying 
publicity  to  commercial  corporations. 

Benjamin  F.  Miles,  President,  Browning  Engineering  Com- 
pany, Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Return  to  old  methods  of  competition  is  absolutely  im- 
possible, being  against  the  world-wide  current  of  affairs.  In 
matters  dealing  with  commerce  the  powers  of  government  should 
be  limited  as  far  as  possible,  and  individual  initiative  should 
be  unhampered  as  far  as  possible  by  government  regulations 
and  espionage. 

John  M.  Cameron,  Great  Western  Oil  Refining  Company, 
Erie,  Kan. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  inside  rivalry  or 
discord  between  the  big  moneyed  interests,  disaffection  over 
recent  enforcement  of  anti-trust  legislation,  and  the  timidity 
and  conservatism  of  capital.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  to  make  clear  "  reasonable  restraint."  I  favor  an  In- 
terstate Trade  Commission. 

J.  R.  Montgomery,  President,  The  J.  R.  Montgomery  Com- 
pany, Manufacturers  of  Cotton,  Yarns,  etc.,  Windsor 
Locks,  Conn. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  bo  made  plain  and  comprehensive, 
so  that  it  will  allow  a  proper  combination  of  capital  to  conduct 
any  size  of  business.  It  is  not  at  present  clear  and  workable. 
We  favor  a  national  incorporation  la\v. 

Corning  &  Co.,  Distillers,  Peoria,  111. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  inability  of  the 
business  and  manufacturing  interests  to  fully  understand  what 
is  really  required,  and  the  vague  and  indifferent  meaning  of 
the  Sherman  Law.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  broad 
and  plain,  so  that  the  business  and  manufacturing  interests  of 
the  country  would  understand  what  to  do. 

B.  Eldredge,  President,  National  Sewing  Machine  Com- 
pany, Belvidere,  111. 

Too  much  competition  is  ruinous  to  a  stable  business. 

Combinations  are  a  good  thing  if  a  commission  could  be 
formed  by  the  government  to  regulate  them  on  a  basis  of  a 
fair  profit  on  capital  actually  invested. 


152 

T.  A.  Adams,  President,  The  Manhattan  Refrigerating 
Company,  and  President,  The  Union  Terminal  Cold 
Storage  Company,  New  York  City. 

The  efforts  to  tear  down  our  present  commercial  and  manu- 
facturing industries  in  order  to  make  capital  for  the  men  that 
are  being,  or  wish  to  be,  elected  to  represent  us,  are  the  causes 
of  disturbance  in  business.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law,  and  I  can  see  no  objection  to  the  experiment  of  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be 
repealed. 

Leonard  Tuft,  Pinehurst,  N.  C. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  corporations 
shall  be  under  the  supervision  of  some  commission,  and  that 
perhaps  production  should  be  limited  to  some  per  cent,  of  the 
total  business  in  their  line.  Business  disturbance  is  due  largely 
to  the  agitation  and  changing  of  business  methods  on  account 
of  the  Sherman  Law.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
a  Federal  license  law,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

The  Marbury  Lumber  Company,  Marbury,  Ala. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  and  combinations  of  farmers 
should  be  permitted.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Not  knowing  where  we 
stand  is  the  chief  cause  of  existing  business  disturbance. 

W.  V.  Cranford,  Manufacturer,  Cranford  Company,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.  ' 

The  farmer  is  peculiarly  subject  to  attack  by  middlemen. 
They  should  be  encouraged  to  form  associations  for  marketing 
their  products.  It  would  tend  to  bring  them  more  closely  in 
touch  with  the  consumer,  help  to  reduce  cost  of  living,  give 
them  a  living  profit  for  their  goods,  and  enable  them  to  buy 
their  supplies  in  quantity  and  at  wholesale  rates. 

Northwestern  Lumber  Company,  Hoquiam,  Wash. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  substitution 
of  a  law  compelling  all  corporations  to  publish  inventories  and 
work  in  the  open — both  combinations  of  capital  and  combina- 
tions of  labor.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates. 

The  Brecht  Company,  Manufacturers  of  Packing  House 
Machinery,  etc.,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

If  not  repealed  the  Sherman  Law  should  make  clear  what 
are  reasonable  and  unreasonable  restraints.  Too  much  govern- 
mental interference  with  business  is  tending  to  unsettle  business 
interests  and  to  make  investors  timid. 


3S3 

J.  W.  Koch,  President,  The  Stoneware  Pipe  Company,  East 
Alton,  111. 

Disturbed  business  conditions?  The  socialistic  cry:  Down 
with  capital ! — and  passing  laws  to  that  effect.  No  country  can 
prosper  without  protection  to  capital  and  encouragement  to 
industries,  to  develop  the  resources  of  the  country,  otherwise 
capital  will  find  investments  in  foreign  lands  more  profitable. 
I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

George  R.  Collett,  St.  Louis  National  Stock  Yards,  National 
Stock  Yards,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  a  new  law  passed 
making  good  its  defects.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  a  Federal  license  law.  Too  much  uncertainty  as  to  the 
meaning  of  the  Sherman  Law  is  a  disturbing  element  in  busi- 
ness. 

Edward  P.  Nichols,  Treasurer,  Great  Falls  Manufacturing 
Company,  Textiles,  Boston,  Mass. 

Political  chicanery  is  the  trouble  with  business.  The  Sher- 
man Law  ought  to  be  repealed.  Old  competitive  methods  are 
emphatically  not  feasible.  The  railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission. 

James  C.  Clow  (James  B.  Clow  &  Sons),  Waterworks  Sup- 
plies, etc.,  Chicago,  111. 

Unfair  attacks  on  corporations,  the  inability  of  corpora- 
tions to  adjust  themselves  to  laws  not  understood,  the  Social- 
istic attitude  toward  railroads,  corporations,  etc.,  the  high  tariff, 
crop  failures  and  general  fear  occasioned  by  all  causes  above 
mentioned,  with  many  more,  have  led  to  disturbed  business  con- 
ditions. 

Arthur  Rogers,  President,  The  Eastern  Ohio  Glass  Com- 
pany, Barnesville,  Ohio. 

General  prosperity  is  the  cause  of  business  disturbance.  The 
Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable,  and  a  return  to  old  com- 
petitive methods  is  feasible.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission. 

I.  Baumgart,  President,  Art  Wall  Paper  Mills,  Chicago,  111. 

The  indefinite  moves  of  the  administration  against  com- 
merce, and  uncertainty  as  to  what  is  going  to  happen  next,  are 
causes  of  business  disturbance.  The  only  real  solution,  to  my 
mind,  is  national  incorporation.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  to  make  it  clear  and  definite  and  to  make  it  a  pro- 
tective rather  than  a  destructive  agency. 


154 

C.  H.  Salisbury,  Vice-President  and  Secretary,  Jacob  Haish 

Company,  Woven  and  Barbed  Wire,  etc.,  De  Kalb, 
111. 

The  Sherman  Law  looks  clear  and  workable.  rireu  instances 
must  govern  the  question  as  to  its  amendment.  1  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. Too  much  politics  in  Congress  is  mv  answer  as  1o  the 
causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions. 

W.  J.  Eckman,  Vice-President,  The  M.  B.  Farrin  Lumber 
Company,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  lack  of  confidence 
from  fear  of  expectancy  in  legislation,  heralded  too  far  in  ad- 
vance. The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  amended  so  that  manu- 
facturers may  protect  themselves  by  limiting  production 
tli rough  association  methods. 

L.   H.    Cramer,   President,   The   G.    F.    Harvey   Company, 
Manufacturing  Chemists,  Saratoga  Springs,  N.  Y. 

Restless  uncertainty  as  to  the  outcome  of  present  conditions 
is  halting  the  progress  of  business.  The  Sherman  Law  is  clear 
and  workable,  probably  as  far  as  <-an  be  possible.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law.  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

Frederick      Swindell,      Rock      Manufacturing      Company, 
Woolens,  Rockville,  Conn. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  ei flier  be  repealed  or  made  so 
lliat  a  layman  can  understand  it.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law.  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. AVe  have  too  much  political  agitation  for  the  good 
of  business. 

D.  B.  Meacham,  President,  Hanging  Rock  Iron  Company, 

Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Ill-advised  legislation  and  tariff  tinkering  have  contributed 
to  cause  agitation  in  trade.  -Another  cause  of  disturbance  is 
that  there  was  a  general  impression  that  1910  would  be  a 
"boom"  year,  and  productive  capacity  was  built  greatly  in 
excess  of  real  consumptive  demand. 

Richard   B.    Carter,   Writing   Inks,    etc.,    East    Cambridge, 
Mass. 

Tariff  agitation,  "  trust  busting,"  and  the  uncertain  politi- 
cal outlook  are  chief  causes  of  present  business  hesitancy.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed  without  .something  in 
place  of  it  along  the  lines  of  international  incorporation,  Federal 
license,  or  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


155 

William  Martin,  President,  T.  Martin  &  Bro.  Manufacturing 
Company,  Elastic  Web  Manufacturers,  Chelsea, 
Mass. 

We  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  which  has  certainly 
not  been  made  clear  and  workable.  We  are  for  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  a  Federal  license  law.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission. 

Janeway  &  Carpender,  Wall  Paper  Manufacturers,  New 
Brunswick,  N.  J. 

Laws  should  permit  agreements  to  be  made  that  will  con- 
trol prices.,  and  when  made  any  violation  of  those  entering  the 
agreement  should  be  punished.  The  laws  governing  business 
of  this  country  should  not  be  different  from  those  in  England 
or  Germany.  Business  men  should  run  their  own  business 
without  being  obliged  to  employ  lawyers  to  run  it  for  them. 

F.  F.  Peabody,  Cluett,  Peabody  &  Co.,  Troy,  N.  Y. 

Agitation  against  big  businesses:  by  politicians,  and  uncer- 
tainty regarding  the  tariff,  are  the  causes  of  business  disturb- 
ance. I  favor  the  amendment  of  the  Sherman  Law  so  that  the 
National  Government  may  regulate  corporations  doing  an  inter- 
state business  in  the  same  way  that  they  regulate  banks.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law. 

F.  C.  Fletcher,  Manufacturer,  Boston,  Mass. 

Too  much  political  activity  against  business  in  connection 
with  the  tariff  issues  and  attempted  regulation  of  business  by 
those  who  understand  very  little  about  it  are  causing  the  present 
disturbed  business  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
repealed  and  an  entirely  new  law  should  replace  it.  T  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law. 

L.  D.  Kellogg,  President,  Kellogg  Switchboard  and  Supply 
Company,  Chicago,  111. 

The  present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  bad 
conscience  of  some  heavily  watered  combinations,,  to  crops, 
Wall  street,  and  probably  some  overproduction  holding  on  since 
1907. 

J.  W.  Phinney,  Type  Founder,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  clear  up  points 
that  are  now  in  doubt.  The  great  accumulation  of  wealth  by 
unfair  means  is  the  chief  cause  of  business  disturbance.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Fedora  1  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 


156 

Paul  E.  Page,  Lumberman,  Buckley,  Wash. 

Anticipating  quick  assets  by  established  business  houses, 
and  over-credit  given  to  new  business  enterprises,  are  causes  of 
present  disturbance.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and 
workable,  but  I  do  not  believe  in  the  courts  reading  something 
into  the  law  which  is  not  in  it.  To  my  mind  the  law  is  clear, 
workable  and  practical,  so  long  as  it  is  construed  as  it  is  writ- 
ten. 

Leslie  M.  Johnston,  Secretary,  Treasurer  and  General  Man- 
ager, A.  M.  Byers  Company,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

The  sole  cause  of  business  disturbance  is  indecision  in  re- 
gard to  the  interpretation  of  the  law  in  its  bearing  upon  "  big 
business."  The  Sherman  Law  should  state  specifically,  if  pos- 
sible, what  a  corporation  or  combination  shall  or  shall  not  do 
to  comply  with  the  law.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
Federal  license,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

F.  A.  Worthington,  Treasurer  of  Agawam  Company,  Manu- 
facturers of  Woolen  Goods,  Agawam,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable  and  should  be 
repealed.  I  favor  either  a  national  incorporation  law  or  a 
Federal  license  law — I  am  not  sure  which  would  be  the  better. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements,  subject 
to  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

Henry  Albers  (Albers  Bros.  Milling  Company),  Portland, 
Ore. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  more  stringent  and  un- 
evadable.  I  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  former 
competitive  methods  in  business.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  and  a  Federal  license  law.  if  the  State  laws  are  re- 
pealed. 

W.  H.  Cowdery,  President,  American  Fork  and  Hoe  Com- 
pany, Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Caution,  fear  of  uncertain  results  from  the  enforcing  of  the 
Sherman  Law  are,  in  part,  the  causes  of  business  hesitancy. 
The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

R.  C.  Peabody,  President,  American  Stoker  Company,  New 
York. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment 
of  a  national  incorporation  law. 

Wallace  L.  Pierce,  S.  S.  Pierce  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed,  giving  us  a  fresh 
one.  We  should  have  a  national  incorporation  law.  Too  much 
politics  is  the  cause  of  a  good  deal  of  business  disturbance. 


157 

Charles  J.  Davol,  President  and  Treasurer,  Davol  Rubber 
Company,  Providence,  R.  I. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  uncertainty  and 
consequent  insecurity  caused  by  the  government's  wholesale 
attack  on  large  business  interests.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
repealed  or  amended.  If  amended,  it  should  state  specifically 
just  what  corporations  can  and  cannot  do. 

G.  W.  Olmstead,  Secretary,  J.  G.  Curtis  Leather  Company, 
Ludlow,  Pa. 

The  hostile  attitude  of  the  government  toward  corporations 
is  responsible  for  business  uncertainty  and  doubt  as  to  .the 
future.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  a  federal  license  law  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

F.  W.  Prentice,  Manufacturer,  Adrian,  Mich. 

I  believe  all  charters  should  be  issued  by  the  government, 
and  only  after  careful  inspection  by  competent  men,  and  stock 
issued  only  at  100  cents  on  the  dollar.  No  "fake"  company 
should  be  allowed  to  exist.  Honest  enterprises  could  then  get 
all  the  money  they  need,  as  the  public  would  have  confidence 
in  all  stock  issued. 

Silas  J.  Llewellyn,  Iron  and  Steel  Manufacturer,  Interstate 
Iron  and  Steel  Company,  Chicago. 

The  present  disturbed  conditions  are  due  to  many  causes, 
but  chiefly  poor  laws  and  poor  constructive  statesmanship. 

Am  in  favor  of  more  co-operation  in  manufacturing,  mer- 
chandising and  distributing  of  products.  Would  like  to  see 
our  merchant  marine  encouraged  and  developed. 

George  H.  Christian,  President,  Hardwood  Manufacturing 
Company,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

I  am  in  favor  of  the  Sherman  Law  just  as  it  is,  and  I  con- 
sider it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  Neither 
trade  unions  nor  farmers  should  be  exempt  from  the  Sherman 
Act. 

S.  S.  Wheeler,  Crocker- Wheeler  Company,  Manufacturers 
and  Electrical  Engineers,  Ampere,  N.  J. 

Abuses  by  labor  and  bad  capital  are  the  causes  of  business 
disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  is,  in  our  opinion,  clear  and 
workable,  and  does  not  need  amendment. 

S.   C.   Irving,  Vice-President   and   General  Manager,   The 
Paraffin  Paint  Company,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

Too  much  legislative  interference  is  disturbing  business.  I 
regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable,  and  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law. 


358 

J.  A.  Campbell,  President,  The  Youngstown  Sheet  and  Tube 
Company,  Youngstown,  Ohio. 

What  business  needs  is  a  hitching  post  that  we  can  tie  to. 
and  know  what  is  legal  and  what  is  illegal.  Tf  we  have  this, 
the  business  of  the  country  will  soon  adjust  itself  to  existing 
conditions. 

The  Charleston  Consolidated  Railway  and  Lighting  Com- 
pany, Charleston,  S.  C. 

I  think  an  important  cause  of  the  present  conditions  is  the 
failure  of  the  legislation  of  the  country  to  develop  so  as  to 
meet  the  changing  economic  conditions.  I  believe  a  properly 
framed  Federal  license  law  would  be  beneficial. 

Frank  Hopewell,  Treasurer,  Sanford  Mills,  L.  C.  Chase  & 
Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  allow  firms 
and  corporations  to  meet  in  conference  looking  toward  better- 
ing conditions,  and  preventing  thereby,  intolerable  competi- 
tion, which  in  the  long  run  works  injury  to  all. 

L.    B.    Faulkner,    General    Manager,    Olympia    Light    and 
Power  Company,  Olympia,  Wash. 

I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  nor  do  I  think 
it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods. 
I  am  not  prepared  to  say  in  what  way  the  Sherman  Law  should 
be  amended. 

Eugene  P.   Edwards,   Farmer  and   Manufacturer,   People's 
Gas  Building,  Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  a  JH-W  law  en- 
acted which  should  absolutely  define  just  what  a  corporation 
could  or  could  not  do  in  terms  which  could  not  he  misunder- 
stood. 

Gebhard  Bohn,  White  Enamel  Refrigerator  Company,   St. 
Paul,  Minn. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  it  can  be  fully 
understood  by  business  men.  Fear  of  tariff  tinkering  and  other 
agitation  connected  with  coming  political  events  have  much  to 
do  with  keeping  business  unsettled. 

M.  L.  Sperry,  Manager,  Savannah  Electric  Company,  Sav- 
annah, Ga. 

Ill-advised  attacks  upon  corporations  are  the  leading  cause 
of  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended 
to  permit  the  incorporation  of  large  companies,  subject  to  proper 
regulation.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


159 

Jacob  Dold  Packing  Company,  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Our  conditions  do  not  seem  to  be  disturbed.  The  Sherman 
La\v  should  be  amended  to  make  it  positive  and  not  ambiguous. 
Trade  unions  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  not  be  ex- 
cepted  from  the  Sherman  Act ;  neither  should  the  livestock 
association. 

A.  C.  Rosencranz,  President,  The  Vulcan  Plow  Company, 
and  President,  Board  of  Education,  Evansville,  Ind. 

Present  unsettled  conditions  in  business  are  caused  largely 
by  politicians  seeking  an  issue  to  attract  votes  and  gain  power 
without  due  regard  for  the  general  welfare.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

L.  H.  Booch,  Vice-President  and  Manager,  Bridge  &  Beach 
Manufacturing  Company,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  allow  co-operation 
among  kindred  industries  without  creating  monopolies.  Pres- 
ent business  unsettlement  is  due  largely  to  the  uncertainty  as 

In  what  can  be  done  under  the  law. 

Yellow  Poplar  Lumber  Company,  Coal  Grove,  Ohio. 

The  failure  of  the  government  to  keep  in  touch  with  busi- 
ness progression  and  the  use  of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act 
by  the  government  in  prosecuting  and  practically  intimidating 
flic  large  business  interests,  all  tend  to  disturb  conditions.  I 
am  in  favor  of  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law. 

Wisconsin  Tissue  Paper  Company,  Appleton,  Wis. 

Political  interference  with  business  and  government '  prose- 
cutions under  the  Sherman  Law,  which  ought  to  be  repealed, 
are  responsible  for  the  disturbance  in  business.  We  are  in 
favor  both  of  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

John  A.  Mathews,  Managing  Director,  Halcourt  Steel  Com- 
pany, Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

Political  tinkering;  excessive  wages  to  common  labor  and 
to  "union"  labor,  with  limited  output  due  to  union  regula- 
tions and  short  hours,  are  leading  causes  of  business  disturb- 
ance. 

Worthy  Paper  Company,  Mittineague,  Mass. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  action  of  the  government  in  the  en- 
forcement of  the  Sherman  'Act,  as  interpreted  by  the  courts, 
is  largely  accountable  for  any  disturbance  which  exists  in  busi- 
ness. \Ve  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Act  and  the  enact- 
ment of  a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law. 


J(30 

W.  B.  Kunhardt,  Treasurer,  The  Carpenter  Steel  Company, 
Reading,  Pa. 

Capital  is  naturally  timid  and  therefore  is  not  disposed  to 
embark  in  railroad  development  or  industrial  enterprises  on  a 
large  scale  so  long  as  there  is  a  strongly  pronounced  disposition 
on  the  part  of  the  government,  both  State  and  National,  to 
make  business  the  football  of  politics. 

The  Dueber  Watch  Case  Manufacturing  Company,  Canton, 
Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  We  should 
have  a  national  incorporation  law,  or  a  Federal  license  law,  and 
we  favor,  also,  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Existing  dis- 
turbances are  due  chiefly  to  political  demagogues. 

H.  C.  Osborn,  President,  The  American  Multigraph  Com- 
pany, Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Ex-President  Roosevelt  in  his  article  on  "  The  Trusts,  the 
People  and  the  Square  Deal,"  has  fully  expressed  my  ideas  as 
to  the  proper  policy  of  the  government  toward  "  big  business  " 
and  the  proper  remedies  for  existing  evils. 

Seth  A.  Borden,  Cotton  Manufacturer,  Fall  River,  Mass. 

The  present  uncertainty  and  constant  interference  with  busi- 
ness are .  naturally  tending  to  unsettle  business  conditions  gen- 
erally. The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed,  not  amended. 
Repeal  is  what  we  want  in  the  interest  of  business  and  of  na- 
tional prosperity. 

Perrin  P.  Hunter,  President,  American  Carriage  Company, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Too  much  politics ;  too  much  legislation ;  laws  not  enforced ; 
failure  to  punish  criminally  for  infractions  of  Sherman  Law 
— all  tend  to  disturb  the  public  mind  and  unsettle  business 
conditions. 

The   Krohn,  Fechheimer   Company,  Stove   Manufacturers, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Legitimate  business  is  not  disturbed  to  a  great  extent. 
There  was  not  sufficient  liquidation  after  the  panic  of  1907. 
Commodity  prices  and  wages  are  not  yet  low  enough  to  stimu- 
late trade. 

W.  C.  Arthurs,  President,  Mt.  Vernon  Car  Manufacturing 
Company,  Mount  Vernon,  111. 

The  country  is  suffering  from  too  much  politics.  I  am  de- 
cidedly of  opinion  that  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted, 
is  neither  clear  nor  workable,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  re- 
pealed. 


Augustus   P.   Loring,   Manufacturer  and  Lawyer,  Boston, 
Mass. 

The  jealousy  with  which  those  who  have  not  regard  those 
who  have — a  jealousy  which,  in  some  instances,  is  more  or  less 
justifiable — along  with  political  agitation' which  appeals  to  that 
and  to  other  passions  natural  to  humanity  have  a  great  deal  to 
do  with  existing  business  disturbance.  It  might  be  well  to  let 
the  men  who  have  proven  their  ability  to  accumulate  vast  for- 
tunes keep  on  accumulating  and  secure  by  taxation  some  share 
of  their  wealth  for  public  uses,  rather  than  deprive  them  of 
the  opportunity  to  continue  their  money-making.  I  favor  a 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law. 

W.  &  B.  Douglas,  Manufacturers  of  Pumps,  Middletown, 
Conn. 

The  Sherman  Law  seems  clear  enough  for  those  who  wish 
to  obey  the  law,  but  to  those  who  wish  to  play  around  the  edge 
of  trouble,  it  seems  inadequate.  We  believe  in  competitive 
methods,  but  do  not  believe  in  allowing  goods  to  be  sold  below 
cost,  for  this  means  bankruptcy  to  many  manufacturing  and 
mercantile  concerns.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  composed  of  practical  men. 
Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  prolonged  political  dis- 
cussion, delayed  decisions  from  the  Supreme  Court,  over-expan- 
sion of  credits  in  proportion  to  the  volume  of  money,  which 
always  seems  too  small  when  business  is  active. 

Chattanooga    Coffin    and    Casket    Company,    Chattanooga, 
Tenn. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  altogether  clear  and  workable.  It 
should  be  amended  so  as  to  make  it  clearer  and  to  inhibit  com- 
binations from  operating  in  a  manner  to  injure  the  public. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting- 
rates,  and  combinations  of  farmers  to  secure  fair  prices  for 
their  products  should  be  permitted.  We  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  Federal  license,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion, or  regulation  and  inspection  by  the  Government,  as  is 
done  with  national  banks.  Old  competitive  methods  are  still 
in  existence. 

Franklin   Murphy    (ex-Governor),   Manufacturer,  Newark, 
N.  J. 

The  Sherman  Law,  upon  the  whole,  is  practically  clear  and 
workable.  I  am  in  doubt  as  to  the  advisability  of  amendments 
to  the  Sherman  Law  at  present.  T  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law. 

Sunny  Brook  Distillery  Company,  Chicago,  111. 

We  favor  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission,  The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and 
workable  and  ought  to  be  amended. 


102 

Benjamin  C.  Lane,  Vice-President,  The  Allen-Lane  Com- 
pany, Mill  Agents,  Boston,  Mass. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  corporations  having  plants  or 
business  other  than  selling  in  more  than  one  State.  I  would 
also  suggest  Federal  legislation  prohibiting  States  from  impos- 
ing any  license  or  other  tax  on  corporations  having  a  charter 
from  either  the  United  States  or  another  State,  except  tax  on 
tangible  property  actually  within  the  taxing  State.  I  favor 
additional  legislation  making  it  compulsory  on  United  States 
district  attorneys  to  act  on  petition  of  aggrieved  parties,  accom- 
panied by  bond  for  reasonable  costs,  complaining  of  violations  of 
the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act.  I  believe  in  holding  companies, 
under  proper  restrictions.  The  government  should  regulate  cap- 
italization and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  cor- 
porations through  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Most  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on 
a  large  scale  are  demonstrable;  but  there  are  corresponding  dis- 
advantages, such  as  (1)  less  personal  interest;  (2)  less  personal 
touch  and  sympathy  between  "hands"  and  those  above;  (3) 
disregard  of  local  and  community  interests,  and  (4)  more  pro- 
motion by  "  pull "  and  favoritism.  The  claim  of  steadier  em- 
ployment of  labor,  and  at  better  wages,  is  questionable.  There 
is  less  chance  for  a  man  if  he  does  lose  a  job  to  get  another. 
It  is  true  that  business  on  a  large  scale  may  command  the  best 
ability,  but  often  at  disproportionate  cost.  I  approve  legislation 
to  permit  large  aggregations  of  capital  under  single  control,  and 
for  the  merger  from  time  to  time  of  smaller  corporations,  and  to 
permit  agreements  which  regulate  production,  prices  and  the 
like  under  suitable  public  control.  We  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

We  favor  as  little  arbitrary  legislation  and  as  much  auto- 
matic as  possible.  Any  consumer  or  competitor  should  have 
the  right  to  initiate  legal  process  to  have  a  corporation  or  com- 
bination declared  a  practical  monopoly,  which,  if  established,  it 
should  then  and  thereupon  become  subject  to  special  regulation 
and  supervision  common  to  all  monopolies  of  that  class. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  allow  com- 
binations subject  to  government  control  and  regulation  of 
prices,  the  moment  it  is  shown  that  such  a  combination  prac- 
ically  dictates  prices.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due, 
in  my  judgment,  to  threats  of  tariff  revision,  and  attempts  to 
enforce  impracticable  anti-monopoly  legislation. 

James  T.  Barber,  North  Western  Lumber  Company,  Eau 
Claire,  Wis. 

A  mixture  of  impossible  reform  theories  and  the  lowest 
kind  of  politics  are  the  trouble  with  business.  Require  all  cor- 
porations doing  interstate  business  to  secure  charters  from  the 
national  government  and  further  require  full  publicity  of  all 
corporations  having  more  than,  say,  $5,000,000  capital. 


163 

Harry    R.   Jones,    Treasurer   and    General    Manager,    The 
United  Steel  Company,  Canton,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed — not  amended.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  but  not  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  political 
hysteria;  insincerity  of  purpose  on  the  part  of  our  law-makers, 
resulting  from  a  desire  on  their  part  to  gain  political  advantage ; 
too  many  investigations  conducted  in  a  sensational  manner  for 
political  effect;  hasty  legislation  based  on  political  expediency 
and  not  on  broad-minded  statesmanship;  too  large  a  proportion 
of  lawyers  in  our  law-making  bodies,  and  not  enough  business- 
men; too  many  laws  based  on  theoretical  conditions  and  not  on 
actual  business  experience. 

We  need  more  broad-minded  constructive  statesmanship,  and 
less  politics.  The  tariff  should  be  revised  piecemeal,  and  only 
after  a  thorough  investigation  of  each  item  by  a  permanent 
tariff  commission.  There  is  entirely  too  much  hasty  tariff 
legislation,  based  upon  political  expediency,  and  not  upon  a 
sound  and  thorough  knowledge  of  the  business  affected  by  each 
item. 

Sohn  &  Reutschler,  Iron  Foundries,  Hamilton,  Ohio. 

Too  much  uncertainty  as  to  what  business  men  may  or 
may  not  do  legally  stands  in  the  way  of  business  progress.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. 

Wm.    L.    Brown,   Pickands,    Brown    &    Co.,    Iron    Manu- 
facturers, Chicago,  111. 

Political  hysteria  and  too  much  legislation,  also  too  many 
contradictions  between  State  and  national  enactments,  tend  to 
cause  disturbance  in  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  so  that  it  can  be  clearly  understood.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law. 

J.  E.  Patton,  Jr.,  Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Company,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa. 

Reasonable  regulation  and  control  by  the  Federal  govern- 
ment is  a  practical  solution  of  the  problem.  I  favor  the  repeal 
of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment  of  a  national  incor- 
poration law  or  a  Federal  license  law. 

George  H.  Stowell,  Manufacturer  of  Cotton  Goods,  Clare- 
mont,  N.  H. 

Wickersham  and  Taft  are  causes  of  present  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  or  else 
amended  to  make  it  less  drastic.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


164 

James  Burke,  President  Burke  Electric  Company,  Erie,  Pa. 

I  am  particularly  impressed  with  the  question:  "Do  you 
consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  what  are  commonly 
known  as  old  competitive  methods  of  business?"  The  question 
infers  that  there  have  been  some  "  old  competitive  methods " 
that  have  gone  out  of  existence,  but  my  observation  of  over 
twenty  years  of  the  electrical  manufacturing  industry.,  is  that 
none  of  the  "  old  competitive  methods  "  have  been  laid  aside, 
but  that  they  all  still  exist,  together  with  a  number  of  new 
ones. 

In  the  electrical  manufacturing  industry  it  is  true  that  all 
kinds  of  competition  have  been  eliminated  between  certain  com- 
panies which  have  been  brought  together  by  consolidations  or 
combinations,  but  these  conditions  have  brought  about  more 
severe  competition  for  the  independent  concerns  that  continue 
to  enjoy  their  liberty. 

Competition  along  the  lines  of  quality  in  connection  with  price, 
and  treatment  of  purchasers,  is  helpful  and  produces  advance- 
ment in  the  art,  and  in  my  opinion  is  to  be  encouraged.  When, 
however,  the  wonderfully  ingenious  methods  developed  by  the 
combinations  of  companies  are  used  instead  of  the  truly  com- 
petitive methods,  the  net  result,  when  the  interests  of  all  are 
considered,  is  a  step  backward. 

George  De  Forest,  Utica  Steam  &  Mohawk  Valley  Cotton 
Mills,  Utica,  N.  Y. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  continued  tariff 
agitation ;  playing  politics  to  the  galleries ;  too  many  foolish  laws 
enacted  by  lawyer  legislators,  to  be  interpreted  by  the  same 
law}'ers  or  their  partners  for  fat  fees  from  corporation  clients. 
The  effect  of  recent  national  and  State  legislation  is  to  make  it 
much  more  expensive  for  corporations  to  do  business.  The  tax 
on  net  profits  of  corporations  is  rank  discrimination  and  in- 
justice. 

As  to  amending  the  Sherman  Law,  I  would  prefer  to  see 
how  the  recent  decisions  by  the  court  work  out.  The  American 
Tobacco  dissolution  seems  to  be  a  farce,  so  far  as  competition 
is  concerned.  I  regard  an  Interstate  Trade  Corn  mission  as  im- 
practicable. 

P.  M.  Bucher,  Secretary,  Pierce,  Butler  &  Pierce  Manufac- 
turing Company,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

The  greatest  trust  in  the  United  States  to-day  is  the  trade- 
union.  The  next  greatest  trust  is  the  "lawyers'  trust,"  com- 
bined with  large  fees  and  demoralizing  methods  to  drive  all 
good  business  enterprises  out  of  the  country.  I  favor  national 
incorporation  and  Federal  license.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  amended  so  that  a  business  man  can  loll  at  all  times  whal 
is  and  what  is  not  lawful. 


165 

T.  Coleman  du  Pont,  Wilmington,  Del. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  unless  properly 
amended.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  Federal  license,  or 
supervision  of  some  kind  of  interstate  business,  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission,  if  not  too  cumbersome, 

John  J.  Griffin  &  Co.  Manufacturers  of  Gas  Meters,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

The  enforcement  of  the  common  law  would  cure  the  evils 
of  the  body  mercantile  and  of  the  body  politic.  The  Sherman 
Law  ought  to  be  repealed.  Theodore  Roosevelt  is  the  cause  of 
present  disturbed  business  conditions. 

George  E.  Molleson,  Railroad  Supplies,  New  York. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  or  it  should  be 
amended,  so  as  to  permit  of  modern  methods  of  business  and 
to  provide  that  no  one  group  shall  control  any  line  of  business. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements,  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

George  T.  Betts,  J.  S.  Betts  Company,  Ashburn,  Ga. 

Agitation  against  large  business,  on  account  of  lack  of  con- 
fidence of  the  public;  the  activity  of  selfish  politicians,  and  ar- 
ticles in  socialistic  magazines  are  chiefly  responsible  for  the 
present  unfortunate  attitude  of  the  public  mind  toward  busi- 
ness in  general. 

Eastern  Clay  Goods  Company,  Boston,  Mass. 

Uncertainty  of  the  government's  position  regarding  cor- 
porations tends  to  disturb  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  repealed  and  a  new  law  passed  regulating  and  controlling 
corporations.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

James  I.  Levy,  President  Ashland  Home  Telephone  Com- 
pany, Ashland,  Wis. 

Too  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  big  corporations  has  made 
business  trouble.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  if 
something  better  cannot  be  substituted.  I  am  in  favor  of  na- 
tional incorporation. 

Newton  Wagon  Company,  Batavia,  111. 

Business  has  been  disturbed  partially  by  too  much  power 
concentrated  in  one  Wall  Street  man  or  firm;  also  the  action  of 
railroad  managers  endeavoring  to  stop  legislation  affecting  the 
regulation  of  rates,  and  the  crop  shortage  over  quite  a  breadth 
of  territory  in  consequence  of  drouth. 


166 

August  Brentano,  President,  Southern  Stove  Works,  Evans- 
•  ville,  Ind. 

A  Vail  street,  extravagance  and  agitation  over  the  tariff  are 
making  the  business  man  anxious  about  the  future.  I  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  amended  so  as  to  more  clearly  define  the  opinion  of  the 
Supreme  Court  relative  to  reasonable  restraint  of  trade. 

United  States  Horse  Shoe  Company,  Erie,  Pa. 

Too  much  politics,  and  uncertainty  on  the  part  of  large 
undertakings  as  to  the  attitude  of  the  government  toward  them, 
arc  causing  a  large  degree  of  anxiety  in  business  circles.  If 
the  Sherman  Law  cannot  be  repealed,  it  ought  to  be  amended. 
We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

L.  W.  Fogg,  General  Manager,  Tower  Hill  Connellsville 
Coke  Company,  Uniontown,  Pa. 

Inflation  and  distrust  are  largely  responsible  for  disturbed 
business  conditions.  To  the  layman,  the  Sherman  Law  is  not 
yet  clear  and  workable.  If  possible,  it  should  be  made  more 
definite  as  to  monopoly.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

W.  A.  Herron,  Steel  Manufacturer,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Lack  of  confidence  resulting  from  uncertainty  of  the  effect 
of  governmental  prosecutions,  is  the  moving  cause  of  disturb- 
ance in  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to 
make  clear  what  are  improper  combinations  or  trade  agreements. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

J.  D.  Robinson,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  The  Libbey  Glass 
Company,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  more  clearly  de- 
fine between  reasonable  and  unreasonable  competition.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law,  but  not  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

William  Gray,  Gray  &  Davis,  Automobile  Lamps,  Ames- 
bury,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  unless  it  can  be 
amended  to  conform  to  modern  business  conditions.  It  is  not 
now  clear  and  workable.  We  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  return 
to  old  competitive  methods. 

Rheinstrom  Bros.,  Fruit  Conservers  and   Distillers,   Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  follow  the 
Gorman  Law  of  unfair  competition  under  which  damages  can 
be  secured. 


167 

Attleboro  Chain  Company,  Manufacturing  Jewelers,  Attle- 
boro,  Mass. 

Too  much  puzzling  interpretation  of  law,  yellow  journalism 
und  playing  politics,  are  working  havoc  with  business.  The 
tariff  should  be  in  the  hands  of  a  Board  which  should  look 
into  American  conditions  and  compare  them  with  the  situation 
in  Europe.  In  no  other  way  should  be  tariff  be  handled. 

S.  M.  Dalzell,  Coal  Operator,  Chicago,  111. 

Too  much  activity  on  the  part  of  the  Department  of  Jus- 
tice, along  with  too  little  judgment  in  applying  that  activity, 
has  a  disquieting  effect  on  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  made  clear.  It  should  cover  trade  unions,  which,  in  my 
opinion,  are  the  most  dangerous  trust  we  have.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law. 

Phillips  Insulated  Wire  Company,  Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Promiscuous  prosecution  under  the  Sherman  Act  is  the 
leading  cause  of  business  disturbance.  We  favor  a  repeal  of 
the  Sherman  Law  and  an  enactment  of  a  national  incorporation 
law,  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

Woodmanse  Manufacturing  Company,  Freeport,  111. 

We  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  which  is  neither 
clear  nor  workable,  and  we  do  not  deem  it  feasible  to  return 
to  old  competitive  methods.  The  railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission. 

Federal  Chemical  Company,  Louisville,  Ky. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  disturbed  business  more  than  all 
other  causes  combined.  If  it  cannot  be  repealed,  any  amend- 
ment that  will  make  it  clearer  so  that  business  men  may  know 
where  it  stands,  should  be  adopted.  We  favor  a  national  in- 
corporation law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

E.  A.  Mallory  &  Sons,  Hat  Manufacturers,  Danbury,  Conn. 

Interference  with  so-called  trusts  and  more  particularly  rail- 
roads in  too  radical  a  manner  has  caused  disturbance  in  busi- 
ness conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  clear, 
workable  and  reasonable.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law. 

Wm.  Lothman,  Lothman  Cypress  Company,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Business  is  feeling  the  disturbing  effects  of  too  high  prices 
of  most  commodities ;  of  reaction  from  the  too  good  times  up  to 
1907  and  of  effect  of  uncertainty  about  the  Sherman  Law, 
which  ought  to  be  amended  so  as  to  cover  all  doubtful  points. 


168 

S.  Karpen  &  Bros.,  Furniture  Manufacturers,  Chicago,  111. 

Increased  cost  of  living  causing  disturbance  in  general  trade 
and  unsettling  the  equilibrium  of  business  intercourse;  State 
and  national  legislation,  both,  already  in  force  and  projected 
for  the  near  future,  all  tend  to  prevent  an  early  readjustment 
satisfactory  to  business  interests. 

E.  P.   Schoening,  The   Columbia   Star   Milling   Company, 

Columbia,  111. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  "  the  eternal  uncertainty.'7 
Either  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  or  it  should  be 
made  so  clear  by  amendments  that  business  may  know  what  is 
legal  and  what  is  not. 

C.  C.  Wagner,  Hardware  Merchant,  Mansfield,  Ohio. 

Disturbance  has  been  caused  in  the  gradual  elimination  of 
speculative  values  and  the  re-adjustment  to  new  levels.  I  do 
not  think  that  actual  consumption  affected  the  situation.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

F.  A.  Seiberling,  The  Goodyear  Tire  &  Rubber  Company, 

Akron,  Ohio. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  that  railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  regard  the 
Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable  and  am  opposed  to  its 
repeal. 

G.  F.  Harwood,  President,  Appleton  Woolen  Mills,  Apple- 

ton,  Wis. 

I  believe  that  the  tariff  question  ought  to  be  handled  by  a 
tariff  board  and  not  used  for  a  political  football.  Too  much 
politics  and  not  enough  statesmanship  is  making  the  trouble 
for  business  interests. 

Zachary    T.    Hollingsworth,    President,    Hollingsworth    & 
Vose  Company,  Paper  Manufacturers,  Boston,  Mass. 

Political  agitation  principally  is  responsible  for  existing 
business  unsettlement.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended 
in  accord  with  business  requirements.  I  favor  a  national  in- 
corporation law. 

W.  C.  Bryant,  The  Bryant  Electric  Company,  Bridgeport, 
Conn. 

I 'sing  the  Sherman  Law  for  political  purposes  is  the  chief 
cause  of  business  unrest.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  re- 
pealed or  modified  to  permit  co-operation  under  proper  super- 
vision. 


169 

J.  S.  Keen,  Detroit  Oak  Belting  Company,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Too  much  politics  and  tariff  legislation  are  interfering  with 
business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended,  making  it  so 
clear  that  the  Supreme  Court  can  understand  it  and  be  unani- 
mous in  its  interpretation.  We  should  have  a  national  incor- 
poration law. 

Robert  H.  Gross,  President,  The  East  Butte  Copper  Mining 
Company,  Boston,  Mass. 

If  we  are  to  maintain  our  position  among  the  nations  of 
the  world,  our  laws  must  be  sufficiently  clear  to  enable  us  to 
continue  to  build  up  large  industries,  under  proper  control  of 
the  government. 

L.  B.  Curtis,  Manufacturer,  Bridgeport,  Conn. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  by  allowing  reason- 
able combinations,  or  else  it  should  be  repealed.  Too  much 
political  and  governmental  interference  is  having  a  distracting 
effect  upon  business.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

W.  A.  Marble,  Manufacturer  of  Corsets,  New  York. 

The  uncertainty  as  to  just  what  the  Sherman  Law  means 
and  the  fact  that  it  is  left  to  the  court  to  decide  what  combina- 
tions arc  *'  good  "'  or  "  bad "  are  causing  business  disturbance. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

Edwin  Golding,  Pottery  Materials,  Wilmington,  Del. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  say  what 
the  Supreme  Court  says  it  means.  Our  present  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions  are  due  to  lack  of  a  dependable  government- 
endorsed  business  policy. 

Standard  Plate  Glass  Company,  Butler,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  provide  for  gov- 
ernment supervision.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a 
Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Over- 
production is  the  cause,  in  my  opinion,  of  business  disturbance. 

Western  Stoneware  Company,  Monmouth,  111. 

The  prosperity  of  the  country  depends  on  the  railroads  to 
the  greatest  extent.  Too  much  politics  and  legislation,  together 
with  labor  agitation,  have  caused  discontinuance  of  building  to 
a  great  extent. 

F.  M.  Slagle  &  Co.,  Lumber  and  Grain  Dealers,  Alton,  Iowa. 

Literally  translated,  the  Sherman  Law  would  make  the  price 
of  newspapers  and  peanuts  a  combination  same  as  beef,  lumber, 
grain,  etc.,  as  you  have  to  pay  the  same  price  any  place  one 

buys. 


170 

Graton  &   Knight  Manufacturing  Company,  Tanners  and 
Belt  Makers,  Worcester,  Mass. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license 
law.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  unless  it  can  be 
modified. 

Hoopeston  Canning  Company,  Hoopeston,  111. 

Uncertainty  is  the  trouble  with  business.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  amended  to  allow  combinations  under  govern- 
ment supervision.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a 
Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Prentiss  Tool  and  Supply  Company,  New  York  City. 

Tariff  and  trust  agitation  are  making  trouble  for  business. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  we  should  have  a 
national  incorporation  law  in  its  place;  also  a  Federal  license 
law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Rueckheim  Bros.  &  Eckstein,  Candy  Makers,  Chicago,  111. 

Any  disturbance  of  business  is  due  to  readjustment  of  con- 
ditions brought  about  by  attempted  enforcement  of  the  law, 
which  should  have  been  done  years  ago.  We  are  in  favor  of  a 
national  incorporation  law. 

The  Hood  Rubber  Company,  Boston,  Mass. 

We  have  no  disturbed  business  conditions.  We  do  not  think 
the  Sherman  Law  is  clear.  The  words  " restraint  of  trade" 
should  be  clarified. 

J.  S.  Molynn,  Manager,  Dierks  Lumber  and  Coal  Company, 
Broken  Bow,  Neb. 

The  tariff  and  big  combinations  seem  to  be  in  the  storm 
centre. 

A.  C.  Stebbins,  Manager,  Lansing  Wheelbarrow  Company, 
Lansing,  Mich. 

Business  is  pretty  good;  it  is  up  to  the  average.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law. 

Augusta  Lumber  Company,  Augusta,  Me. 

The  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions?  Congress, 
Taft,  politics,  Wall  Street.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  wiped 
out  of  existence. 

James  A.  Smith  Lumber  Company,  Osage,  Iowa. 

High  finance  and  its  selfishness  has  caused  the  agitation 
which  now  unsettles  the  country.  I  am  in  favor  of  national 
legislation  to  control  business  of  an  interstate  character. 


171 

J.  A.  Brett,  Westinghouse  Electric  Company,  Cincinnati, 
Ohio. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  politics.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  made  clear  or  repealed. 

Dibert,  Stark  &  Brown  Cypress  Company,  Ltd.,  Donner,  La. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  some  way  to  fit 
conditions  as  they,  exist  to-day.  Political  agitation  is  the  cause, 
or  in  a  very  large  degree  the  cause,  of  existing  disturbances. 


Chapter  II. 


BANKERS,  RAILWAY  AND  INSURANCE 
OFFICIALS. 


Charles  Shade,  President  The  First  National  Bank,  Rock 
Rapids,  Iowa. 

The  daily  routine  of  a  country  banker  is  usually  limited  to 
a  small  radius.  His  line  of  business  does  not  bring  him  'into 
contact  with  the  Sherman  Law,  so  that  answers  made  to  your 
questions  bearing  upon  this  law  are  theoretical  only.  The  so- 
called  Sherman  Law  is  quite  plain  as  to  what  is  to  be  declared 
a  "  trust "  in  restraint  of  trade,  the  question  for  interpretation 
by  the  courts  being,  what  actual  conditions  shall  constitute  a 
trust.  They  have  affirmed  in  their  decision  that  a  "  reasonable  " 
allowance  must  be  made  in  the  application  of  the  law.  Their 
decision  that  the  so-called  Tobacco  Trust  and  the  Standard  Oil 
Company  are  trusts  in  restraint  of  trade  applies  only  to  com- 
panies such  as  these  or  other  companies  carrying  on  business  in 
a  similar  manner.  It  occurs  to  the  writer  that  they  still  leave 
the  question  open  for  review  in  many  cases,  and  as  they  are  the 
only  court  to  interpret  what  a  trust  in  restraint  is,  the  writer 
believes  that  the  law  should  be  revised  and  made  so  plain  that 
any  one  carrying  on  a  large  business  could  interpret  it  as  ap- 
plied to  his  particular  business. 

An  Interstate  Trade  Commission  would  be  a  feasible  way 
of  handling  interstate  corporations.  Their  books  and  actions 
should  be  open  for  inspection  by  the  commission,  and  the  com- 
mission should  be  supported  by  law  to  the  regulation  of  such 
business. 

Samuel  Rea,  Vice-President,  Pennsylvania  Railroad  Com- 
pany, Broad  Street  Station,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

I  believe  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is  not  yet 
clear,  but  under  court  interpretation  will  become  workable.  I 
do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  what  are  commonly 
known  as  old  competitive  methods  in  business,  for  it  means 
unreasonable  and  generally  ruinous  competition.  Competition 
is  desirable,  and  we  can  have  it  if  the  laws  of  supply  and  de- 
mand are  permitted  to  take  their  course.  I  do  not  favor  a 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  I  am  not  prepared  to  make  any 
reply  as  to  amending  the  Sherman  Law.  The  matter  should 
first  be  studied  bv  a  commission  of  wise  and  experienced  men 

172 


173 

\vhn>e  findings  and  recommendations  should  determine  this  ques- 
tion. Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  This  necessary  privilege 
should  never  have  been  withheld. 

Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of 
the  Sherman  Act.  No  worse  violation  of  the  act  has  been  ex- 
perienced than  the  abrogation,  through  force  and  intimidation, 
of  the  free  right  to  labor  and  the  restraint  of  trade  caused  by 
strikes  and  labor  union  activities. 

Alexander  Gilbert,  President  Market  and  Fulton  National 
Bank,  New  York  City. 

Past  errors,  excessive  speculation,  overcapitalization,  undue 
expansion  of  productive  capacity  from  1901  to  1907  are  respons- 
ible, in  my  judgment,  for  any  disturbance  that  exists  in  business 
conditions.  We  violated  economic  laws.  We  traveled  a  long 
distance  in  the  wrong  direction.  We  must  go  just  as  far  in 
the  right  direction  before  we  shall  be  able  to  resume  our  onward 
march  to  prosperity.  Had  the  Sherman  Law  been  enforced  in 
1901.  present  disturbed  business  conditions  would  not  be  so 
much  in  evidence. 

T  regard  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  as  clear  and 
workable.  While  it  may  be  possible  to  correct  evils  which  have 
resulted  from  business  methods  of  big  corporations,  we  can 
never  go  back  to  old  competitive  methods.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  only  so  far  as  may  be  necessary  to  render 
its  interpretation  easy;  i.  e.,  to  express  its  intent  and  purposes 
so  clearly  that  it  cannot  be  misunderstood.  A  national  incor- 
poration law  would  probably  clear  up  and  adjust  the  present 
situation  as  to  corporations. 

First  National  Bank.  Hood  River,  Ore. 

If  all  corporations  could  be  forced  to  issue  stock  only  for 
actual  values  and  no  showing  be  made  other  than  of  actual 
physical  value  of  property  owned,  instead  of  on  its  face  earning 
power  over  a  certain  period,  it  would  establish  confidence.  Busi- 
ness agitation  is  due  to  overcapitalization,  undue  inflation  and 
false  and  sensational  reports  exaggerating  actual  conditions,  cir- 
culated for  a  purpose,  reaching  the  ears  of  the  wary  investor 
who  frequently  fails  to  get  at  the  true  facts. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended.  The  working  expe- 
rience now  obtained  should  enable  competent  men  to  frame 
legislation  that  would  be  more  intelligible  and  be  exhaustive 
in  regard  to  what  is  actual  violation  and  fitting  penalties.  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Combinations  of  farm- 
ers ought  to  be  permitted,  and  railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
outer  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 


174 

T.  R.  Frentz,  Cashier,  The  New  German-American  Bank, 
Oshkosh,  Wis. 

State  rights  should  not  be  interfered  with  as  long  as  States 
do  not  grant  too  lax  a  set  of  laws  to  corporations,  but  a  cor- 
poration organized  under  the  laws  of  one  State  which  seeks  to 
do  any  interstate  business  should  be  compelled  to  take  out  a 
license  in  each  State  it  desires  to  do  business  in. 

As  long  as  large  corporations  devote  their  energies  along 
such  lines  as  to  give  to  the  people  the  best  articles,  the  best 
made  and  at  the  lowest  prices,  they  are  unquestionably  a  great 
good  to  the  country.  When,  however,  these  institutions  are 
evolved  with  the  idea  of  "  squeezing  "  the  consumer  and  com- 
pelling him  to  pay  the  very  last  extortable  cent  for  their  prod- 
uct, then  such  corporations  should  be  dissolved,  and  in  my 
opinion  that  is  the  exact  intent  of  the  Sherman  Law. 

Just  because  a  corporation  is  large;  just  because  its  capital 
is  a  billion  dollars;  just  because  it  is  able  to  pay  good,  reason- 
able dividends  to  its  stockholders;  just  because  it  controls  the 
trade;  just  because  it  is  able  to  wipe  out  competition,  is  no 
reason,  in  my  opinion,  why  it  is  a  criminal  institution.  The 
larger  the  institution,  the  bigger  the  capital,  the  abler  the  man- 
agement, the  greater  is  the  ability  of  that  corporation  to  do 
the  greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number. 

A  big  corporation,  with  plenty  of  capital,  honest  manage- 
ment, a  desire  to  give  the  people  a  square  deal,  is  an  ideal  insti- 
tution and  unquestionably  is  the  business  house  of  the  future. 

In  my  opinion  the  day  of  the  many  small  competing  manu- 
facturers is  gone  forever. 

The  two  underlying  causes  of  the  present  disturbed  business 
conditions  are: 

(1)  The  tremendously  high  cost  of  living,  which  causes  the 
absorption  of  any  ordinary  man's  wages  for  the  bare  food  neces- 
sary to  maintain  life  itself,   and  leaves  him  nothing  to  buy 
any  comforts  or  luxuries.    When  he  has  paid  for  his  food,  his 
wood  and  his  coal,  there  is  nothing  left  to  buy  furniture,  clothes, 
paint,  or  build  barns,  fences  or  additions  to  his  house.     This 
makes  itself  felt  very  quickly  and  very  keenly  in  the  producing 
business  world,  and  when  retailers  cannot  sell  they  cannot  buy 
from  the  factory.    The  factory  having  no  demand  for  its  prod- 
uct shuts  down  or  runs  on  reduced  hours,  and  labor  is  still 
further  handicapped  in  its  struggle  for  life. 

(2)  The  fear  of  a  coming  panic.     Everyone  knows  that 
panics  come  around   about  once  in  twenty  years,  and  that  all 
great  panics  always  are  preceded  two  or  three  years  by  a  pre- 
liminary breakdown  or  sometimes  called  a  semi-panic.     Every- 
one knows  that  the  panic  of  1893  was  preceded  by  the  break- 
down of  1890,  and  everyone  knows  that  the  general  conditions 
in  1892  and  1912  are  practically  identical.    The  same  high  cost 
of  living,  the  same  political  discontent,  the  same  presidential 
contest,  the  almost  certainly  same  result,  the  general  fear  of 


175 

the  change  in  political  policies  and  the  still  uni'orgotten  pre- 
liminary  breakdown  of   1907. 

Added  to  these  two  main  causes  might  be  cited  the  addi- 
tional irritant  of  the  United  States  government's  attack  on  the 
so-called  trusts,  which  proposes  to  put  out  of  business  (strangely 
enough)  those  very  concerns  which  have  cheapened  the  cost  of 
living  to  the  consumer. 

E.  Nelson  Blake,  President  First  National  Bank,  Arling- 
ton, Mass. 

1  favor  national  incorporation — as  the  plan  more  easily  and 
surely  enforced — for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce. 
I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies,  for  the  reason  that  it  is 
so  difficult  to  prevent  control  that  will  check  competition  and 
give  a  monopoly  of  funds  or  of  product.  The  spirit  of  the  Sher- 
man Law  is  sufficient — when  enforced  with  "  reasonable  "  appli- 
cation by  the  Supreme  Court — to  deal  with  unfair  competition 
and  restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should  regulate  capi- 
talization, and  laws  should  be  passed  applying  publicity  to  com- 
mercial corporations,  through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for 
that  purpose.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with 
powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers.  Any  amend- 
ments to  the  Sherman  Law  should  make  the  language  of  its 
requirements  simple  and  strong,  and  when  evaded,  the  penalty 
should  be  enforced.  Laws  are  made  for  the  lawless  who  resort 
to  every  method  to  evade  justice.  Time  is  showing  the  weaker 
points  of  the  Sherman  Law,  which  can  be  strengthened  from 
time  to  time. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  largely  due  to  "politics." 
Money  is  very  sensitive  and  timid.  Fear  of  some  future  com- 
plications either  at  home  or  abroad  causes  great  caution. 
'*  Operators  "  of  stocks  and  in  stocks  thrive  on  disturbance  in 
"markets."  Managers  of  "trusts"  and  their  satellites  are 
decrying  disturbance  so  that  they  may  be  the  "ins."  "Wall 
Street"  influence  is  not  favorable  to  peaceful  conditions.  With- 
out their  adverse  influence  our  crops  would  give  good  business 
this  fall. 

Henry    W.    Yates,    President    Nebraska    National    Bank, 
Omaha,  Neb. 

I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers 
not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission in  relation  to  common  carriers.  It  is,  however,  a  com- 
plicated question,  and  it  would  seem  that  general  laws,  either 
State  or  national,  should  be  sufficient.  Too  much  government 
is  bad  government.  The  proposition  is  different  from  that 
applicable  to  railroads,  which  are  quasi-public  institutions  and 
are  therefore  properly  subject  to  a  central  public  control. 


I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  Endeavors,  however,  should  be  made  to  secure  uni- 
form State  laws  for  the  incorporation  of  companies  to  do  inter- 
state business — something  similar  to  the  movement,  success- 
fully accomplished,  by  banks  and  lawyers  to  secure  uniform 
legislation  in  the  matter  of  negotiable  instruments.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended  to  make  the  punishment  apply 
solely  to  the  unlawful  acts  committed  by  small  or  large  com- 
panies. The  fact  of  largeness  should  not  of  itself  be  considered 
criminal. 

I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies.  It  makes  the  stifling 
of  competition  too  easy.  I  think  there  is  a  difference  between  a 
large  company — even  with  numerous  branches — doing  business 
upon  its  own  direct  responsibility,  and  a  mere  holding  company. 
In  practical  operation  it  is  possible  that  in  many  cases  it  would 
be  the  same,  but,  nevertheless,  it  is  by  no  means  certain  that 
this  would  be  the  case.  As  to  unfair  competition  and  restraint 
of  trade,  statutes  forbidding  specified  practices  should  be  enacted 
—nothing  else  can  be  fair.  The  government  should  prevent 
fictitious  capitalization  and  laws  should  be  passed  providing 
for  publicity  applied  to  commercial  corporations;  but  the  neces- 
sity of  a  commission  to  carry  out  those  laws  is  not  clearly 
apparent,  as  the  protection  desired  might  be  obtained  through 
general  laws. 

Andrew   J.    Frame,   President   Waukesha    National   Bank, 
Waukesha,  Wis. 

Too  restrictive  measures  destroy  our  freedom  for  which  our 
forefathers  fought.  Andrew  Jackson  said  our  prosperity  is 
greatest  when  left  most  free  to  individual  effort.  Curb  the 
monopolies,  but  do  not  attempt  to  run  all  business.  Socialism 
destroys,  individualism  upbuilds. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  com- 
merce. I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies.  Corporations 
are  a  necessity;  limit  them  so  that  they  will  not  become  monop- 
olies. The  government  should  regulate  capitalization.  The 
question  of  providing  protection  for  minority  stockholders  and 
subsidiary  interests,  and  to  prevent  the  exploitation  of  investors, 
is  one  of  the  biggest  of  your  problems.  Laws  are  abundant.  It 
is  human  to  err,  and  greatly  regrettable  that  all  cannot  be  made 
honest.  I  would  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if  we 
could  find  honest  and  intelligent  men  to  discharge  its  duties. 
The  Sherman  Law  is  fairly  clear  and  workable,  but  it  might 
l)e  bettered  by  making  as  clear  as  possible  what  is  "  reasonable  " 
and  what  is  "  unreasonable."  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  In  my  judgment,  business 
disturbance  is  largely  due  to  political  demagogism.  The  crops 
for  fifteen  years  have  been  abundant.  The  many  are  suffering 
for  the  sins  of  the  few.  Prosecutions  have  come  to  the  point  of 
persecution  of  honest  tradesmen,  etc.  The  reign  of  reason,  not 
radicalism,  is  most  needed. 


177 

C.  R.  Breckinridge,  President   Arkansas  Valley  Trust  Com- 
pany, Fort  Smith,  Ark. 

We  must  have  concentration  of  production  to  keep  pace  with 
the  world;  and  we  must  have  control  of  it  to  escape  commercial 
despotism.  It  must  be  controlled  by  government  regulation  in 
necessary  cases,  or  else  we  shall  drift  into  national  socialism. 
The  means  should  not  be  so  complicated  as  to  defeat  the  end. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended;  but  I  am  not  prepared 
to  enter  into  details.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regula- 
tion of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  and  results  should 
not  be  subjected  to  so  many  delays.  The  Sherman  Act  should 
apply  to  all  men  alike,  without  preference  either  to  trade  unions 
or  any  other  class.  I  am  inclined  to  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  also  a  Federal  license  law  if  necessary,  or  so 
far  as  to  give  adequate  control.  An  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion is  apparently  necessary. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to 
our  bad  currency  and  banking  system ;  the  abuses  arising  from 
the  present  system  of  monopoly;  the  lack  of  proper  control  of 
monopolized  industry;  the  fostering  of  monopoly  and  the  bur- 
dens upon  trade  and  the  people  of  a  protective  tariff ;  unlawful 
and  unwise  exactions  of  organized  labor;  extreme  shortage  of 
food  crops,  and  great  excess  in  the  cotton  crop. 


C.  W.  Snow,  President  of  First  National  Bank  and  Presi- 
dent of  C.  W.  Snow  &  Co.,  Druggists,  Syracuse, 
N.  Y. 

Some  of  the  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  are  (1) 
failure  to  revise  the  tariff;  (2)  extravagance  pervading  all 
classes  of  society;  (3)  the  tyranny  of  the  labor  unions;  (4)  fear 
of  attack  by  the  government  on  the  part  of  many  of  the  large 
corporations;  (5)  the  uncertainty  preceding  the  presidential 
election;  (6)  the  imperfect  currency  and  banking  system  of 
this  country;  (7)  the  large  increase  of  the  production  of  gold, 
one  of  the  causes  of  the  high  cost  of  living. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  entirely  clear  and  should  be 
amended  so  far  as  to  make  it  clear  and  workable.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state commerce,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with 
powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers.  I  believe  in 
holding  companies,  under  public  control.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  applied 
to  commercial  corporations. 


J7S 

A.    E.   Adams    (The   First   National   Bank),   Youngstown, 
Ohio. 

Present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused,  in  my 
judgment,  by  general  dissatisfaction  with  our  system  of  distribu- 
tion, crystallized  into  positive  discontent  by  the  dulness  follow- 
ing the  panic  of  1907  and  now  being  expressed  in  political  agi- 
tation. In  a  word,  the  immediate  cause  is  politics.  I  do  not 
regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable,  and  I  favor  its 
repeal  if  replaced  by  a  better.  If  it  is  to  be  amended,  it  should 
define  that  "  restraint  of  trade "  means  everything  calculated 
to  result  in  excessive  profit  to  the  producer  or  otherwise  excess- 
ive cost  to  the  consumer.  "  Excessive "  is  here  intended  to 
mean  anything  more  than  normal  return  for  the  use  of  the 
money  employed,  plus  a  fair  compensation  for  the  skill  arid 
ability  shown,  and  reasonable  pay  for  the  risk  involved. 

The  old  competitive  system  was  almost  as  much  of  a  burden 
to  the  consumer  as  the  monopolistic  system.  Railroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  I  admit  the  advantages  claimed  for  those 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  plus  sounder  financial  condi- 
tions. 

I  believe  in  holding  companies,  with  proper  restrictions  as 
to  publicity,  etc.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion, though  overcapitalization,  per  se,  is  not  an  evil,  and  it 
ought  not  to  be  necessary  to  pass  laws  to  protect  the  investing 
public  against  the  absence  of  common  sense. 

David  J.   Charles    (Miners   Savings  Bank  &   Trust   Com- 
pany), Butte,  Mont. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  I  believe  in  holding  companies.  Unfair  competition 
and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with  under  the  Sherman 
Anti-Trust  Act.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization, 
by  providing  that  capitalization  shall  be  in  accordance  with 
assets.  I  favor  laws  providing  publicity  for  commercial  corpora- 
tions, and  I  also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Under 
recent  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
the  Sherman  Law  appears  to  be  clear  and  workable. 

Frederic  A.  Delano,  President,  Wabash  Railway  Company, 
Chicago,  111. 

Uncertainty !  Impossibility  of  adjusting  conditions  to  shift- 
ing requirements  and  a  growing  unrest  in  regard  to  the  rela- 
tions between  labor  and  capital  are  responsible  for  present  dis- 
turbed conditions.  I  consider  a  national  incorporation  law  as 
probably  desirable,  and  the  same  in  regard  to  a  Federal  license 
law.  The  question,  however,  is  one  subject  to  a  good  deal  of 
debate.  The  Sherman  Law,  I  believe,  ought  to  be  repealed. 


179 

William  A.  MacRae,  Manager  of  the  Bank  of  California 
National  Association,  Portland,  Ore. 

J  am  of  the  opinion  that  neither  national  nor  State  legisla- 
tion is  a  sovereign  remedy  for  existing  ills;  but  that  the  cure 
must  come  from  an  enlarged  conception  on  the  part  of  the 
great  body  of  business  men ;  that  the  golden  rule,  "  Do  unto 
others  as  you  would  that  others  should  do  to  you/7  would  prove, 
if  generally  applied,  a  better  remedy  than  laws  which  ingenuity 
will  find  a  way  to  circumvent.  Speaking  of  the  advantages 
claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  I  am  of 
opinion  that  those  advantages  may  and  should  exist,  but  1 
doubt  whether  the  purchaser  of  "trust"  products  always 
receives  the  benefit  of  the  resulting  economies.  I  regard  national 
incorporation  for  companies  doing  interstate  business  as  pre- 
ferable to  Federal  license,  unless  national  incorporation  would 
interfere  with  the  taxing  of  such  corporations  by  the  States. 
I  have  no  remedy  to  suggest,  but  I  do  not  believe  the  Sherman 
Anti-Trust  Act  has  successfully  prevented  monopolies.  I  see 
no  objection  to  holding  companies  if  created  for  a  legitimate 
purpose.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  if  the  mem- 
bers are  selected  for  their  fitness  to  fill  the  position,  not  as  a 
reward  for  political  services. 

Sylvester  C.  Dunham,  President  Travelers  Insurance  Com- 
pany, Hartford,  Conn. 

I  favor  Federal  charters  for  corporations  doing  an  inter- 
state business,  including  insurance  companies.  I  also  favor 
legislation  recognizing  the  fact  that  modern  business  must  be 
transacted  by  large  corporations  operating  on  a  large  scale. 
A  law  amended  up  to  date  and  sufficiently  specific  should  be 
enacted.  I  believe  in  holding  companies  under  suitable  restric- 
tions. The  advantage  to  the  public  of  competition  is  greatly 
overestimated.  The  public  pays  the  penalty  for  reckless  and 
irresponsible  competition,  which  is  worse  than  unfair  compe- 
tition. I  favor  laws  providing  for  government  regulation  and 
publicity. 

In  addition  to  the  other  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing 
big  business  on  a  large  scale  should  be  added  suppression  of 
ruinous  and  irresponsible  competition,  whereby  degraded  prod- 
ucts are  imposed  upon  the  market,  such  as  adulterated  foods, 
shoddy  garments  and  Buddenseik  buildings. 

The  Sherman  Law  as  now  interpreted  has  not  yet  been 
made  clear  and  workable.  It  should  not  be  repealed,  but  mod- 
ernized. Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  Politicians  are  responsible,  in  my  judgment, 
for  disturbed  business  conditions. 


180 

Charles   F.    Cox,   Railway   Treasurer,   Grand   Central   Ter- 
minal, New  York  City. 

In  general,  all  laws  should  be  repealed  which  lead  to  prose- 
cutions of  corporations  or  individuals  because  of  what  they  may 
intend  to  do  or  have  the  power  to  do,  instead  of  for  specific  and 
material  acts  they  have  performed.  In  regard  to  advantages 
claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  no  one  can 
reasonably  believe  that  the  numerous  corporations  into  whicli 
the  Standard  Oil  Company  is  dissolved  can  serve  the  public 
better  and  more  economically  than  was  done  by  the  original 
corporation.  I  favor  Federal  incorporation  as  avoiding  conflict 
and  complication.  After  Federal  incorporation  I  would  exclude 
State  interference. 

William    Ingle,    Vice-President    and    Cashier    Merchants' 
National  Bank,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Watering  of  stocks  and  securities,  stifling  of  reasonable  com- 
petition, outrageous  tariff  laws  with  attendant  extravagance,  and 
an  attempt  to  right  by  legislation  in  a  single  session  of  Congress 
the  accumulated  economic  wrongs  of  forty  years  are  prominent 
among  the  causes  of  business  disturbance.  If  it  were  possible 
by  stretching  the  "  commerce  clause  "  of  the  Constitution  a  bit 
further  and  say  that  all  banks  of  any  kind  in  using  the  mails 
between  States  were  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  and  there- 
fore all  subject  to  national  regulation,  a  great  step  would  be 
taken. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  as  now  interpreted,  but,  in 
the  main,  as  a  matter  of  English  language  it  is.  If  the  Sher- 
man Law  is  to  stand  as  interpreted,  I  would  favor  its  repeal, 
but  only  long  enough  to  enact  a  stronger  and  more  compre- 
bensive  measure.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  sell  their  wares 
at  wholesale,  just  as  does  a  grocer.  Trade  unions  should  not 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  On  the 
contrary,  all  such  organizations  should  be  made  to  incorporate 
with  substantial  capital  to  be  responsible  for  acts  of  their  mem- 
bers. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  I  should  say 
"  Yes  "  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  but  not  with  great 
enthusiasm.  Practical  judges  and  superior  courts  should  answer 
every  purpose. 

David   H.    Seibert,  President   The   Pennsylvania   National 
Bank,  Pottsville,  Pa. 

I  favor  laws  to  provide  for  government  regulation  of  capi- 
talization, and  I  also  favor  laws  calling  for  publicity  and  apply- 
ing to  commercial  corporations  through  a  commission  to  be 
appointed  for  that  purpose,  methods  akin  to  those  now  used  in 
regulating  common  carriers  and  their  rates  through  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law. 


181 

Joseph  T.  Bowen,  Jr.,  Chicago,  111. 

Lack  of  public  confidence  in  our  administration  is  the  chief 
cause  of  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  should  have 
a  judicial  interpretation  which  can  be  followed.  I  do  not  favor 
its  amendment.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

H.  P.  Hersey,  Savings  Bank  Treasurer,  Hingham,  Mass. 

Stop  taking  the  freedom  out  of  the  country  and  allow  people 
to  do  business  legitimately  and  at  a  profit.  Competition  is  the 
father  of  bankruptcy.  I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  return 
to  old  competitive  methods.  They  made  many  bankrupts.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  business  can  be  done, 
a  good  profit  allowed,  and  business  men  can  know  where  they 
stand.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  but  not  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  It  probably  would  be  unfair,  like  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

I  believe  a  law  should  be  passed  that  will  allow  business 
to  be  carried  on  without  interference,  and  that  a  liberal  profit 
is  right.  Too  much  interference  by  the  government  has  depre- 
ciated the  value  of  the  securities  owned  by  savings  banks  and 
life  insurance  companies  to  a  fearful  extent,  and  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  so-called  trusts,  which  have  seldom  hurt  the  com- 
mon people  of  the  United  States,  has  been  a  direct  injury  to 
them  and  a  benefit  to  the  very  ones  at  whom  it  was  aimed. 
If  we  can  have  a  just  law  that  all  can  understand  when  read, 
which  will  not  adversely  affect  the  business  of  the  country,  then 
reepal  the  Sherman  Law;  but  if  a  more  drastic  enactment  is 
to  take  its  place,  then  let  it  stand  and  be  a  dead  letter. 

J.    W.    P.    Lombard,    President    The    National    Exchange 
Bank,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed  without  something 
definite  to  take  its  place — "  had  better  bear  the  ills  we  have," 
etc.  The  Sherman  Law,  if  amended,  should  have  its  provisions 
made  clear.  A  superabundance  of  laws,  whose  meaning  is  not 
altogether  clear,  has  checked  development  and  put  a  stop  to  new 
enterprises.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  but  doubt  if  either 
that  or  Federal  license  would  be  of  any  benefit  to  the  country 
at  large.  I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission — the 
country  has  simply  gone  wild  over  government  by  commission. 

Henry   M.   Garlick,   President  The   First   National   Bank, 
Youngstown,  Ohio. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state commerce  and  more  uniform  State  laws  in  regard  to  cor- 
porations. There  should  be  a  general  law  broad  enough  to  avoid 
technical  restraint  and  permit  reasonable  agreements.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  if  finally  found  necessary. 


182 

I.  C.  Hirsch,  Real  Estate,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

In  my  view  the  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable, 
and  if  it  is  not  to  be  changed  or  taken  off  the  statute  books, 
its  meaning  will  be  that  all  must  resort  again  to  cutthroat  com- 
petition, which  will  kill  most  business  and  give  the  field  over  to 
the  large  corporations  so  necessary  in  these  times.  To  return 
to  old  competitive  methods  would  surely  spell  destruction  to 
most  of  our  honest  business  institutions,  as  all  must  try  to 
secure  orders  to  keep  capital  and  labor  active,  and  the  ordinary- 
sized  and  small  companies  surely  would  not  be  able  to  compete 
with  the  very  large  ones.  I  favor  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law 
and  the  enactment  of  a  substitute  to  compel  all  to  use  fair  and 
just  means  in  securing  business.  I  mean  by  fair  and  just — hon- 
est methods.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  that  will  per- 
mit owners  and  managers  to  say  how  and  when  they  should  run 
their  business,  as  long  as  they  are  honest  and  do  not  violate  any 
law  now  on  the  statute  books.  Business  men,  railroad  men  and 
financiers  need  peace  and  rest. 

Frank  Harding,  Lawyer,  President  Orange  County  Trust 
Co.,  Middletown,  N.  Y. 

While  most  thinkers  agree  that  the  corporation  has  served 
an  excellent  purpose,  and  agree  that  the  large  aggregations  of 
capital  are  more  effective  than  small  ones,  yet  the  whole  advan- 
tage put  in  the  scale  against  the  disadvantages  of  having  a 
creature  greater  than  the  creator  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
the  trend  of  corporate  growth  and  activity  has  been  toward 
a  condition  of  society  to  which  none  of  them  would  subscribe. 
All  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  do  not — all  put  together — justify  taking  the  corporation 
out  of  the  position  of  a  public  creature  made  for  a  beneficent 
purpose  and  making  it  a  destructive  giant. 

If  there  is  no  alternative  for  Federal  legislation  dealing 
with  interstate  corporations,  I  prefer  the  license  principle.  At 
the  same  time  I  suggest  that  the  House  of  Governors  seems  to 
indicate  a  way  to  sane  uniformity.  Note  the  results  of  the  work 
done  in  reference  to  the  commercial  paper  laws. 

W.  R.  Thompson,  First  National  Bank,  Hancock,  Mich. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  An  Interstate  Trade  Commission  should 
be  created,  with  power  to  govern  and  regulate  all  such  corpora- 
tions. The  Sherman  Act  should  be  repealed,  and  all  complaints 
should  be  settled  by  the  commission.  I  believe  in  holding  com- 
panies, subject  to  approval  by  a  proper  commission.  The  gov- 
ernment should  regulate  capitalization. 

Abuse  of  power  by  a  few  corporations  and  efforts  to  magnify 
the  wrongdoing  by  unscrupulous  politicians,  as  well  as  articles 
in  sensational  newspapers  and  magazines  disturb  the  public 
mind  and  tend  to  unsettle  business. 


183 

F.  J.  Hollocker,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  The  Trust  Com- 
pany of  St.  Louis  County,  Clayton,  Missouri. 

The  government  ought  to  legalize  and  have  commercial  cor- 
porations carry  on  trade  under  government  approval,  devising  a 
system  whereby  prices  may  be  agreed  upon  by  the  various  manu- 
facturers and  the  output  raised,  lowered  or  changed  systema- 
tically by  experts  and  by  conference.  The  prices  should  not  be 
extortionate,  but  every  provision  made  for  a  fair  profit  to  all; 
commodities,  available  by  reason  of  near  location  and  conse- 
quent reduced  freight  rates,  to  be  allotted  to  different  members 
of  the  association  situated  nearest  to  the  consumer,  the  ulti- 
mate object  and  purpose  always  being  the  cheapening  of  prices, 
promotion  of  quality  and  promptness  in  execution  of  orders 
to  thus  avoid  wasted  effort  of  capital  and  labor  in  competition 
without  commensurate  profit.  I  favor  Federal  regulation  and 
license  for  companies  doing  interstate  business.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization. 

Walter  F.  McCaleb,  President  West  Texas  Bank  &  Trust 
Company,  San  Antonio,  Tex. 

It  strikes  me  that  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an 
interstate  business  is  more  nearly  in  harmony  with  our  tradi- 
tions, but  I  doubt  our  being  able  to  solve  the  problem  on  this 
line.  It  looks  as  though  Federal  incorporation  alone  could  save 
the  situation.  The  holding-company  issue  is  a  most  difficult 
matter  to  approach.  It  looks  to  me  as  though  no  law  whatso- 
ever can  successfully  prevent  the  attaining  of  the  results,  even 
if  legislation  were  invoked;  there  are  oblique  ways.  The  Gov- 
ernment should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be 
passed  for  publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations. 
Theoretically  the  claims  of  advantages  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  are  largely  true.  Evil  results  follow,  first, 
from  tariff;  second,  from  pernicious,  even  vicious  management. 
I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

C.  W.  Carpenter,  Cashier,  Manufacturers    National  Bank, 
North  Attleboro,  Mass. 

Trusts — so  called — can  and  should  be  of  great  economic 
value  both  to  producer  and  consumer,  but  recent  history  does 
not  record  that  they  are  as  a  rule.  I  prefer  national  incorpora- 
tion for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  am  op- 
posed to  holding  companies,  and  favor  specific  statutes  if  the 
Sherman  Act  is  not  powerful  enough  to  deal  with  unfair  com- 
petition and  restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should  regu- 
late capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  enacted  calling  for  pub- 
licity in  regard  to  all  matters  that  the  public  have  a  right  to 
know  regarding  tbo  affairs  of  commercial  corporations. 


184 

Eugene  C.  Galloway,  President,  Gate  City  Coffin  Company, 
Manufacturers;  President,  Fulton  County  Home 
Builders,  Construction;  President,  The  Imperial 
Company,  a  Hotel  Corporation;  President,  Gate  City 
Realty  Company,  an  Investment  Company,  for  buy- 
ing and  selling  real  estate,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  only  partly  caused 
by  the  Sherman  Act.  The  country  generally  has  been  over- 
trading and  is  liquidating,  which  affects  the  volume  of  business. 
In  the  South  particularly  at  the  present  time  the  low  price  of 
cotton  depresses  business.  Give  us  12-cent  cotton,  and  we  will 
never  have  a  panic  in  the  South,  and  it  would  probably  prevent 
one  in  the  nation. 

While  water  seeks  its  highest  level,  prices  on  the  contrary 
seek  their  lowest  level.  No  arbitrary  act  of  government  can 
prevent  prices  between  competitors  being  the  same.  When, 
from  a  demoralized  condition  of  affairs,  one  commodity  is  re- 
duced in  price,  its  competitive  article  immediately  falls  to  that 
price  to  meet  it.  When  competition  brings  prices  of  commodi- 
ties below  their  normal  price  and  at  a  loss  to  the  manufacturer, 
it  is  next  to  impossible  to  raise  the  prices  to  a  normal  and 
reasonable  one  without  an  agreement  between  competitors. 
Prices  in  this  respect  are  like  reputation.  It  is  easy  to  tear 
down,  but  hard  to  build  up  again.  It  needs  a  slight  agree- 
ment between  competitors,  which  at  present  the  Sherman  Act 
forbids.  This  tends  to  demoralize  business.  When  affairs  are 
in  this  shape,  it  should  be  permitted  competitors  to  combine, 
but  under  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  and  by  their  author- 
ity. This  commission  should  investigate  conditions  and  see  the 
absolute  necessity  of  such  advances  by  an  agreement  between 
competitors. 

Worth  Kilpatrick,  Coal  Operator  and  President  Second 
National  Bank,  Connellsville,  Pa. 

The  present  business  conditions  are  the  natural  results  of 
past  seed  sowing.  The  railroad  companies  for  the  past  twenty 
years  or  more — until  lately — gave  differentials  and  rebates  to 
favored  interests,  building  them  up  to  enormous  money  powers, 
at  the  sacrifice  and  oppression  of  the  smaller  dealer,  manufac- 
turer, operator  and  shipper.  These  latter  make  up  the  larger 
number  of  people,  and  when  it  was  seen  that  there  could  be  no 
relief  given  until  agitation  was  made  in  earnest  against  these 
unlawful  conditions,  such  agitation  carried  with  it  what  could 
only  be  expected — the  pendulum  swung  to  the  far  side.  But 
with  patriotic  law-makers  that  will  rise  above  self  and  enact 
such  laws  as  will  protect  all  interests  in  their  rights,  we  will 
then  settle  down  to  great  and  honest  work,  everyone  feeling 
that  he  is  protected  in  his  efforts.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  and — if  for  the  best  interests  of  all  concerned— an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


185 

A.  Augustus  Healy,  Retired  Merchant,  formerly  Vice-Presi- 
dent of  the  Central  Leather  Company,  New  York. 

Great  corporations  have  grown  up  under  the  Sherman  Law, 
under  the  supposition  that  they  were  entirely  legal,  as  no  objec- 
tion was  made  by  the  government.  They  should  not,  there- 
fore, be  treated  as  criminals.  They  are  generally  willing  to 
submit  themselves  to  reasonable  regulation  which  would  safe- 
guard the  rights  of  the  public.  In  the  whole  matter  of  regulat- 
ing and  controlling  corporations  care  should  be  taken  not  to 
stirie  the  spirit  of  enterprise. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  very  largely  to  lack 
of  confidence  caused  by  unwise  attacks  upon  corporations.  The 
present  destructive  method  of  procedure  is  very  injurious.  The 
government  should  reason  together  with  the  officers  of  business 
corporations,  with  the  view  of  rectifying  what  is  wrong  in  pres- 
ent methods,  and  until  such  negotiations  fail  the  corporations 
should  not  be  attacked  in  courts  of  law,  which  is  hurtful  to 
sentiment  in  the  business  world  and  productive  of  bad  feeling, 
causing  expense  and  delay.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made 
clear,  reasonable  and  intelligible  to  conform  to  changed  condi- 
tions of  business. 

In  addition  to  other  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale  should  be  added  the  advantage  that 
emploj^ees  may  become  profit-sharers  through  holding  the  stock. 
The  public  also  has  the  same  advantage  and  opportunity. 

I  believe  in  holding  companies,  under  limitations  to  prevent 
oppression.  The  holding  company  is  a  great  convenience  in 
a  large  business  organization  with  plants  perhaps  widely  scat- 
tered. It  acts  like  a  central  office  in  which  different  members 
of  a  large  business  organization  may  be  brought  into  harmo- 
nious and  efficiently  working  relationship.  It  enables  also  the 
working  parts  of  the  organization  to  act  conformably  to  the 
laws  where  they  may  be  located. 

Leslie    French,    Cashier   First    National   Bank,    Escanaba, 
Mich. 

There  is  too  much  agitation  and  uncertainty  for  any  one 
to  be  sure  of  his  ground;  we  think  business  is  of  the  cautious 
hand-to-mouth  variety.  Let  us  have  a  strong  Federal  incor- 
poration act  that  corporations  will  have  to  come  under  and  will 
absolutely  have  to  obey.  The  government  can  control  if  it  is 
given  a  tool  that  is  sharp  enough. 

I  believe  large  aggregations  of  capital  must  be  allowed,  but 
they  certainly  should  represent  actual  bona  fide  values  (phys- 
ical) and  be  under  rigid  government  control.  They  should  be 
compelled  to  incorporate  under  a  general  Federal  law  and 
should  be  compelled  to  forfeit  their  charter  if  they  do  forbidden 
things,  as  enumerated.  Further,  the  officers  and  directors  should 
be  criminally  liable  to  the  government.  I  refer  you  to  the 
National  Banking  Law  as  a  pa*t  model. 


186 

H.  R.  Page,  President,  Central  State  Bank,  Jackson,  Mich. ; 
President,  Home  Store  Company,  Chicago,  111. ;  Presi- 
dent, Chicago  Sewer  Pipe  Company  of  Brazil,  Ind., 
and  last,  but  not  least,  Farmer,  502  So.  Jackson  street, 
Jackson,  Mich. 

I  am  with  Levy  Mayer  \vhen  he  says  in  the  Chicago 
Tribune : 

"Let  the  government,  instead  of  fettering  or  shackling  the 
tremendous  and  limitless  resources,  energy,  and  strength  of 
our  industrial  world,  turn  its  fruits  into  paths  of  profit  and 
usefulness  for  all  of  the  people/'  and  adds: 

"  1.  Place  power  with  the  President  scientifically  to  reduce 
the  tariff,  and,  if  necessary,  remove  it  entirely  from  imported 
articles  that  can  be  sold  on  a  competitive  basis  with  the  products 
of  trusts  and  monopolies  that  are  not  incorporated  under  Fed- 
eral law. 

"  2.  Enact  a  Federal  incorporation  law,  under  which  all  cor- 
porations engaged  in  interstate  trade  may  become  incorporated. 
That  law  should  contain  provisions  for  visitation  and  examina- 
tion similar  to  those  now  in  the  national  bank  act  and  in  the 
regulations  of  the  Controller  of  the  Currency.  Such  a  law  should 
not  be  compulsory.  Every  corporation  availing  itself  of  its 
provisions  should  be  permitted  to  abandon  and  surrender  its 
State  charter.  Every  such  Federal  corporation  should  be  given 
rights,  powers  and  privileges  in  everv  State  on  the  scale  of 
those  now  enjoyed  by  national  banks,  free  from  the  harassing, 
nagging,  conflicting,  and  oppressive  statutory  provisions  and 
burdensome  taxes  that  prevail  in  nearly  all  of  the  States  against 
foreign  corporations  doing  business  therein. 

"  3.  Remove  every  such  Federal  corporation  from  subjection 
to  the  anti-trust  act.  In  other  words,  expressly  provide  that 
the  provisions  of  that  statute  shall  not  govern  Federal  corpora- 
ions  but  shall  continue  to  apply  only  to  those  not  availing  of 
the  Federal  corporation  act.  Give  to  every  Federal  corporation 
the  unrestricted  and  untrammeled  right  to  contract  and  to 
enter  into  any  kind  of  trade  agreements  pertinent  to  its  busi- 
ness. As  a  consideration  for  such  freedom  provide  that  every 
such  Federal  corporation  shall  be  required  to  pay  into  the  Uni- 
ted States  treasury  annually  one-fourth  of  its  net  profits,  after 
providing  for  all  fixed  charges,  interest,  payments,  deprecia- 
tion, maintenance  and  a  dividend  equal  to,  say,  7  per  cent,  on 
all  outstanding  stock. 

"  In  order  to  avoid  the  payment  of  dividends  on  watered 
stock,  provide  that  a  department  of  the  government,  a  Federal 
corporation  commission,  shall  have  the  right  to  determine  to 
what  extent  the  issued  stock  of  any  such  corporation  is  in  ex- 
cess of  the  fair  value  of  all  of  its  property. 

"  In  this  way  there  will  be  no  statutory  penalty  on  business 
progress  and  ambition  or  on  commercial  genius.  Corporate 
officers  will  then  continue  with  increasing  efforts  to  develop 
and  enlarge  their  industries  and  fields  of  activity." 


187 

Frank  H.  Foster,  Cashier,  National  Bank,  Claremont,  N.  H. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  fundamental  policy  of  the  government 
—whether  advantages  of  combinations  are  to  be  recognized,  and 
combinations  permitted  under  reasonable  safeguards,  or  whether 
all  restrictions  of  competition  are  to  be  made  illegal,  whether 
in  the  line  of  real  economic  progress  or  not — is  the  principal 
cause  of  business  disturbance. 

The  writer  believes  we  are  bound  to  see  more  or  less  contin- 
uous progress  toward  a  higher  degree  of  organization  in  all 
industrial  activities,  accompanied  by  an  extension  of  the  func- 
tions of  both  States  and  nation,  to  guard  the  welfare  of  the 
many  against  abuse  of  the  great  extensions  of  power  that  have 
come  and  will  continue  to  come  to  the  few.  Enlarged  govern- 
mental responsibilities  are  inevitable,  but  a  great  danger  comes 
in  here  that  individual  initiative,  which  has  played  such  an 
important  part  in  our  national  life,  may  be  curbed  and  Jiedged 
about  to  such  a  degree  as  to  lose  the  advantages  it  has  heretofore 
brought  to  societ}^.  It  will  need  broad,  enlightened  and  dis- 
interested statesmanship  to  steer  between  the  Scylla  of  un- 
restrained monoply  and  the  Charybdis  of  a  paralyzing  bureau- 
cracy. 

In  regard  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  I  can  see  no  necessary  relation  between  size 
of  business  and  protection  to  employees  against  accidents.  In 
addition  to  the  advantages  claimed  may  be  mentioned  stand- 
ardization of  products,  quick  deliveries,  and  reduction  in  losses 
on  "  bad  bills,"  and  economic  waste. 

I  favor  Federal  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  business.  In  regard  to  holding  companies,  I  would 
favor  laws  preventing  them,  if  Federal  incorporation  can  be 
had,  but  not  otherwise.  Without  Federal  incorporation,  a  law 
requiring  combinations  to  merge  in  one  large  corporation  would 
leave  such  corporations  exposed  to  the  imposition  of  oppressive 
taxes,  or  other  burdens,  as  a  "  foreign  corporation,"  in  any 
State  except  the  one  in  which  it  was  incorporated.  A  single 
corporation  is  preferable,  if  it  can  be  protected  against  burden- 
some State  laws  bearing  upon  foreign  corporations.  The  gov- 
ernment should  regulate  capitalization.  I  can  see  no  escape 
from  the  creation  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  large 
powers.  It  will  not  be  an  unmixed  blessing,  but  what  are  the 
alternatives?  Removal  of  wholesome  restraints  altogether,  or 
a  perpetuation  of  the  spectacle  now  being  enacted  of  dragging 
one  combination  after  another  into  court  to  ascertain  after  the 
fact  whether  its  acts  have  been  reasonable,  when  no  sure  guide- 
posts  have  been  set  up  by  which  a  corporation  may  travel  with 
assurance  of  avoiding  prosecution. 

Ex.  Norton,  Broker,  New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable  and  ought  to 
be  repealed.  Uncertainty  as  to  the  legal  status  of  corporations 
is  the  cause  of  disturbance  in  business. 


18S 

Felix    T.    McWhirter,    President,    People's    State    Bank, 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to 
failure  to  keep  the  capitalization  of  every  corporation  fully  up 
to  par  value  and  to  lack  of  proper  and  thorough  examination 
( semi-annual ly  or  annually)  by  government  authority,  the 
results  given  in  official  published  statements.  Interstate  corpora- 
tions should  operate  under  a  general  national  charter,  with  no 
holding  company,  or  combination  with  other  corporation.  The 
"  people "  are  partners  in  every  concern  holding  corporate 
existence  and  should  be  so  regarded. 

If  capital  is  kept  at  par  value  and  uniform  protection  guar- 
anteed, enlargement  will  follow  demand.  The  general  law  of 
supply  and  demand  is  as  sure  in  its  operation  as  is  the  law  of 
gravitation.  True  statesmanship  demands  that  this  law  shall 
be  safeguarded,  and  that  advantages  shall  be  dependent  only 
upon  actual  capital  invested,  intelligent  representation  of  the 
article  or  commodity  offered  and  square  dealing  with  employees. 
Under  existing  conditions,  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  does 
not  assure  steadier  employment  of  labor  and  at  better  wages. 
Economies  in  production,  economies  in  distribution  and  greater 
use  of  by-products  certainly  do  exist  in  connection  with  business 
on  a  large  scale;  and  competition  should  insure  the  benefits  of 
these  advantages  in  some  degree  to  the  consumer.  Command 
of  the  best  ability,  but  at  an  adequate  or  exorbitant  compensa- 
tion, is  also  admitted,  as  well  as  better  protection  against  indus- 
trial accidents  and  more  command  of  international  trade.  I 
think  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  ought  to  be  avoided  if 
possible.  I  would  not  favor  publicity  beyond  that  of  annual 
or  semi-annual  statements,  duly  attested  by  government  examin- 
ers and  supported  bv  the  sworn  statement  of  at  least  three 
directors  and  the  active  officers. 

With  intelligent  pressure  a  high  order  of  socialism,  recogniz- 
ing and  rewarding  intelligence,  integrity  and  experience,  will 
supplant  the  futile  efforts  of  trade  unions  and  the  demagogic 
arguments  of  shallow  and  dangerous  politicians. 

Chase  &  Barstow,  Stock  Brokers,  Boston,  Mass. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  too  much  ill-con- 
sidered legislation  in  regard  to  railroads  and  general  business 
and  too  much  diffuse  talking  by  president,  attorney-general 
and  others  during  the  past  eight  or  ten  years. 

Business  people  and  railroad  people  have  learned  that  ruin- 
ous competition  is  of  no  lasting  benefit  to  anyone.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  make  people  compete  in  prices  and  rates  if  they  do  not 
wish  to  do  so.  Legislation  cannot  accomplish  this,  but  the  ex- 
perience of  the  past  four  years  has  shown  plainly  that  such 
legislation — and  governmental  talk  and  action  following — can 
ruin  tens  of  thousands  of  the  citizens  of  this  country  and  dis- 
turb the  general  welfare  of  millions. 


189 

Samuel  E.  Elmore,  President,  Connecticut  River  Banking 
Company,   Hartford,  Conn. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment,  pri- 
marily to  the  attempt  to  rudely  enforce  a  crudely  formed  plan 
to  regulate  the  "  trusts,"  by  destroying  instead  of  curbing  them, 
thus  producing  chaos.  The  laws  should  apply  equally  to  all- 
department  stores,  as  well  as  oil  and  steel  producers,  etc.  The 
great  gain  to  the  public  by  combinations  of  capital  should  not 
be  overlooked,  because  they  have  also  caused  some  to  make  ex- 
traordinary gain.  The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable, 
but  should  not  be  repealed,  unless  a  proper  substitute  can  be 
framed.  While  I  would  prefer  a  substitute  for  the  Sherman 
Law,  I  suggest  that,  if  it  is  to  be  amended,  it  should  be  made 
plain  and  reasonable,  so  that  those  who  wish  to  act  honestly 
and  justly  could  be  assured  of  protection,  which  is  what  laws 
are  needed  for. 

Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  £he  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  provided  that  the  members  of  the  com- 
mission are  qualified.  I  do  not  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law ;  let  each  State  take  the  consequences  of  its  legislation.  Poli- 
tics will  eventually  regulate  that,  without  paternal  action.  I  see 
no  serious  objection  to  holding  companies.  The  competition 
between  the  States  to  make  laws  governing  incorporation  is  a 
small  matter  and  will  correct  itself.  "Do  you  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now 
enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to 
common  carriers  ?  "  Yes. 

R.  H.  Rush,  Cashier,  The  First  National  Bank,  Charleroi, 
Pa. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  with  rigid  supervision  for 
corporations  doing  an  interstate  business.  I  do  not  believe  in 
holding  companies.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and 
workable,  and  am  utterly  opposed  to  its  repeal.  What  is  needed 
i*  more  rigid  enforcement,  with  provisions  made  clear  on  all 
points.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  but  should  be  limited  as  to  the  time,  so  that  they 
could  be  regulated  to  suit  new  conditions  arising.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  for  those  doing 
interstate  business  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The 
disposition  of  "  combinations  of  capital "  to  realize  greater 
profits  on  constantly  increasing  or  overcapitalization,  and  the 
attempt  on  the  part  of  our  government  to  check  the  appalling 
violation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  without  its  provisions  being  thor- 
oughly understood  and  clearly  defined,  and  the  absence  of 
Supreme  Court  decisions  on  all  points  supposedly  violated,  fend 
undoubtedly  to  create  apprehension  and  disquietude  in  the  con- 
duct of  important  business. 


190 

Charles  J.  Seeds  (The  Delaware  County  State  Bank),  Man- 
chester, Iowa. 

Business  uncertainty  is  due  to  climatic  and  other  local  con- 
ditions in  certain  parts  of  the  country;  to  doubt  and  fear  of  those 
having  the  handling  of  money  of  our  big  concerns,  as  to  the 
course  of  government  officials  in  the  way  they  would  construe 
the  present  laws,  and  the  way  the  same  would  eventually  be 
construed  by  the  courts. 

For  companies  doing  interstate  commerce  permit  State  incor- 
poration, and  require  all  corporations  doing  interstate  business 
(with  a  capital  of  $150,000)  to  have  a  Federal  license,  said 
license  or  fee 'payable  annually.  1  do  not  believe  in  holding 
companies  strictly  as  "holding  companies."  One  company 
should  be  prevented  from  holding  stock  in  another,  except  to  a 
limited  extent  and  for  a  limited  time.  Laws  should  be  enacted 
specifying  just  what  constitutes  unfair  competition  and  restraint 
of  trade.,  and  when  those  laws  are  violated  the  authorities  should 
go  after  the  person  or  persons  responsible,  with  a  criminal  pen- 
alty. The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  pub- 
licity should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations.  The  large 
corporations  seem  to  be  a  necessity;  let's  keep  them — but  keep 
them  safe. 

I  would  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  something 
along  the  lines  suggested,  in  case  the  present  Department  of 
Commerce  could  not  properly  handle.  I  can  see  no  good  reason 
why  there  should  be  any  limitation  as  to  capital  for  commercial 
corporations — so  long  as  the  capital  is  actually  there — more 
than  for  railroads.  Make  laws  that  are  reasonable  and  fair  to 
all,  saying  just  what  is  what;  then  enforce  them.  We  are  in 
a  day  of  "big  things  and  quick  actions,"  and  to  swing  them 
takes  a  lot  of  money,  as  well  as  brains. 

Andrew  T.   Sullivan,   President,   Nassau   Trust   Company, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  impaired  confidence, 
caused  by  political  agitation,  injudicious  actions  and  invectives 
on  the  part  of  State  and  Federal  officials;  also  excessive  greed 
and  dishonesty  exhibited  by  those  in  control  of  certain  corpora- 
tions. I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  I  believe  it  will 
always  be  a  disturbing  factor,  a  menace  to  legitimate  business 
interests  and  a  weapon  of  destruction  in  the  hands  of  dema- 
gogues and  blatant  reformers.  If  not  repealed,  then  I  favor 
amending  its  provisions  so  as  to  harmonize  with  the  growth  of 
the  country  and  existing  business  conditions,  provision  to  be 
made  for  reasonable  regulation  and  supervision.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. The  government  should  regulate  capitalization — assets 
and  earning  capacity  to  be  equitably  considered.  Publicity 
should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations. 


101 

Joseph  L.  Seligman,  J.  &  W.  Seligman,  Bankers,  New  York 
City. 

The  Sherman  Law  will  not  be  clear  and  workable  until  the 
courts  define  more  clearly  what  constitutes  "  reasonableness/' 
I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  old  competi- 
tive methods,  but  competition  is  greatly  to  be  preferred  to  gov- 
ernment interference  and  inquisition,  which  has  so  disturbed 
conditions  of  late.  I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law, 
but  its  amendment.  It  should  be  amended  by  enacting  more 
stringent  laws  against  directors  and  promoters  of  guilty  corpora- 
tions; the  establishment  of  a  government  corporation  bureau; 
enforcement  of  a  law  compelling  all  corporations  to  incorporate 
under  government  statutes. 

Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission.  "  Should  trade  unions  be  ex- 
cepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act  ?  "  Trade  unions 
are  growing  far  too  powerful:  they  should  be  curbed  in  every 
manner  consistent  with  the  second  section,  Article  IV.,  of  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  of  America.  "  Should  com- 
binations of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a 
crop  for  higher  prices,  be  lawful  under  the  Sherman  Act  ?  "  No ; 
also  no  dealing  in  corners  or  futures  of  staple  commodities 
should  be  allowed.  Gambling  in  grain  must  and  ought  to  be 
immediately  stopped. 

I  decidedly  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  but  it  must 
not  entail  inquisition  into  the  private  affairs  of  innocent  per- 
sons constituting  the  corporation,  such  as  stockholders  who  are 
connected  with  the  management.  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

In  my  judgment,  the  cause  of  disturbed  business  conditions 
is  too  much  government  attempt  at  remedying  all  at  once  the 
entire  corporation  "  evils  "  of  the  country,  coming,  as  it  did,  in 
a  time  of  European  and  world-wide  unrest  and  financial  dis- 
furbance. 

Under  the  general  Federal  incorporation  law  there  should 
be  a  clause  that  every  director,  etc.,  should  be  made  to  swear 
on  assuming  his  directorship  (or  administrative  office)  that  he 
will  not,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  ever  hold  one  share  of 
the  stock,  or  give  any  intimation  to  others,  for  purposes  of 
speculation,  etc.,  of  proposed  changes  or  other  knowledge  he  has 
acquired  through  his  position  in  the  company. 

N.  G.  Lamson,  President,  Merrimack  River  Savings  Bank, 
Lowell,  Mass. 

The  sensational  attempt  to  enforce  the  unpractical  Sher- 
man Law  has  had  much  to  do  with  disturbing  business.  If 
the  destructive  tendencies  of  that  law  cannot  be  removed  by 
-amendment,  then  it  ought  to  be  repealed. 


192 

Alexander  Brown  &  Sons,  Bankers,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  panicky  conditions 
in  the  currency  situation;  a  too  rapid  recovery  from  the  panic 
of  1907  has  been  followed  by  reaction  attended  by  lack  of  con- 
fidence, due  to  political  and  governmental  problems.  We  think 
that  a  Federal  incorporation  act,  designed  to  secure  publicity 
and  familiarity  with  the  affairs  of  the  large  industrial  con- 
cerns (rather  than  to  give  governmental  control),  offers  the 
speediest  specific  for  existing  conditions.  The  main  objection 
to  the  plan  is  that  it  opens  the  door  to  legislation  tending 
toward  a  dangerous  centralization  of  financial  power  in  Wash- 
ington. We  are  inclined  to  think,  however,  that  the  advantages 
of  an  act  of  this  sort  would  outweigh  the  disadvantages.  The 
recent  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  have  rendered  the  Sher- 
man Act  much  clearer  and  have  prepared  the  way  for  making 
it  very  clear  and  workable.  It  is  hardly  feasible — and  certainly 
inadvisable — to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended  to  provide  for  a  further  examina- 
tion, investigation  and  study  of  the  larger  industrial  corpora- 
tions. Their  relation  to  the  foreign  and  domestic  commerce 
of  the  country  and  the  observance  of  the  result  of  the  recent 
"  trust "  dissolutions,  covering  a  period  of  several  years,  will  be 
the  best  guides  to  proper  amendments.  Any  amendment  at  the 
present  time  would  likely  be  based  on  false  premises,  with  a 
possible  explanation  of  a  Federal  incorporation  act. 

John   Stites,  Attorney-at-Law  and  Vice-President  of  The 
Louisville  Trust  Company,  Louisville,  Ky. 

Business  can  in  time  adapt  itself  to  almost  any  conditions, 
when  those  conditions  are  stable  and  known;  but  no  business 
can  succeed  under  uncertain  conditions.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law.  unless  its  meaning  can  be  made  clear.  If 
amended,  its  meaning  should  be  made  clear  and  its  enforcement 
put  into  the  hands  of  a  national  commission,  with  duties  plainly 
defined,  its  powers  safeguarded,  and  its  acts  made  subject  to 
review  by  the  courts  in  proper  cases.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

W.  E.  Coffin,  President,  Iowa  Loan  &  Trust  Company,  Des 
Moines,  Iowa. 

The  Sherman  Law  was  a  poor  law ;  in  fact,  it  was  too  indefi- 
nite in  its  terms;  but  it  has  been  given  definition,  and  now  that 
the  situation  has  been  clarified  we  should  enforce  the  law.  Aside 
from  this,  we  should  have  peace,  and  a  settled  condition  of  affairs 
rather  than  more  agitation.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are 
due  partly  to  reaction  from  a  condition  of  too  much  expansion 
and  .partly  to  too  much  political  agitation.  I  favor  enforcement 
of  the  present  law.  also  a  Federal  incorporation  act,  and  publicity 
of  the  affairs  of  all  corporations  doing  an  interstate  business. 


193 

W.  B.  Anderson,  Vice-President  and  Manager  Merchants 
and  Miners  Bank,  Calumet,  Mich. 

rncertainty  with  respect  to  the  future  of  the  large  cor- 
poration!?, and  the  frequency  of  changes  in  our  tariff  system, 
are  perhaps  the  greatest,  but  not  the  only  causes  of  business 
disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and 
workable,  and  I  question  whether  it  can  be  satisfactorily 
amended.  Railroads  should  he  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
It  would  seem  to  be  safe,  inasmuch  as  they  are  subject  to  regu- 
lation. Trade  unions,  too,  need  to  be  regulated  by  some  power 
greater  than  the  union.  In  regard  to  combinations  of  farmers, 
size  should  receive  very  careful  consideration.  I  favor,  for 
companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce,  such  national  incor- 
poration or  Federal  license  as  will  enable  the  Federal  govern- 
ment to  regulate.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations. 
We  need  the  large  corporations.  They  should  not  be  dissolved, 
but  should  be  under  Federal  regulation.  Federal  regulation 
will  necessitate  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

L.  M.  Bashinsky,  Exporter  of  Cotton  and  Vice-President  of 
Farmers  and  Merchants  National  Bank,  Troy,  Ala. 

We  believe  the  general  unrest  will  not  he  eliminat^.  until 
the  government  can  undertake  supervision  of  all  interstate  cor- 
porations under  wise  laws.  Such  a  course  would  satisfy  the 
stockholders,  and  the  entire  country  would  be  inspired  with 
confidence.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable. 
It  should  be  amended  to  provide  for  governmental  supervision 
of  all  interstate  business.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  combinations  of  farmers 
to  secure  fair  prices  for  their  products  should  be  permitted.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  The  average  politician,  who  does 
not  understand  economic  laws,  is  mainly  responsible  for  business 
unrest. 

Frederick  H.  Lane,  Commission  Merchant,  New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  in  its  place  a 
Federal  incorporation  law  should  be  enacted  providing  the  right 
of  the  government  to  send  a  representative  to  any  directors' 
meeting  merely  as  an  inspector  and  also  providing  for  a  fair 
measure  of  publicity.  The  causes  of  present  disturbed  business 
conditions  are  tariff  agitation,  unseasonable  weather,  overcapi- 
talization and  irregular  banking.  The  advantages  of  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  apply,  as  a  rule,  more  particularly  to  staple 
products,  such  as  steel  rails,  piece-dyed  fabrics  and  food  prod- 
ucts. Productions  dependent  on  fashions  or  artistic  individual- 
ity can  often  be  produced  on  a  small  scale  more  economically 
than  on  a  large  scale. 


394 

Howard  Caswell  Smith,  Banker,  New  York. 

Among  enormous  corporations  I  believe  competition  is  dan- 
gerous and  destructive;  though  steps  should  be  taken  to  prevent 
the  crushing  of  competitors  by  any  methods  subject  to  a  high 
moral  criticism.  Limited  publicity  is  essential.  I  favor  a  na- 
tional incorporation  law,  if  not  unconstitutional.  The  time  is 
not  ripe  for  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

The  time  is  not  ripe  for  such  a  move,  and  the  healthy  varia- 
tions of  various  businesses  would  make  such  a  scheme  impracti- 
cable. 

Causes  of  the  present  disturbed  business  conditions  are: 
(1)  The  turpitude  and  avarice  of  men  in  the  highest  walks  of 
life  who  proved  unworthy  of  their  trusts;  (2)  the  resulting 
popular  clamor,  which  forced  legislative  and  executive  activity, 
not  based  on  scientific  study  and  knowledge  of  economic  prob- 
lems. We  can  only  hope  for  successful  results  by  the  intelligent 
study  of  economic  laws  bearing  on  our  business  problems  and 
the  intelligent  application  of  facts  to  these  laws.  We  cannot 
hope  to  develop  a  practical  theory  that  violates  economic  laws. 
Popular  clamor  is  useful  to  make  us  all  think,  but  not  to  solve 
our  problems. 

Otto  Fowle,  President  First  National  Bank,  Sault  Sainte 
Marie,  Mich. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clearer  and  more  workable  than  form- 
erly, but  not  yet  sufficiently  so.  It  should  be  amended  so  as  to 
be  effective  without  stifling  legitimate  business.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates  only 
as  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  prefer 
Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce. 
Holding  companies  are  proving  dangerous,  and  I  think  that  laws 
dealing  with  them  might  afford  a  necessary  remedy.  The  gov- 
ernment should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be 
passed  applying  publicity  to  commercial  corporations.  I  am 
not  prepared  to  say  definitely,  but  I  am  inclined  to  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

The  great  question  is  to  permit  the  employment  of  capital, 
insuring  just  remuneration  without  stifling  competition.  It 
must  be  done — but  how?  The  effort  to  control  monopolies  is 
largely  responsible  for  business  disturbance. 

H.  Thane  (Desha  Bank  &  Trust  Company),  Arkansas  City, 
Ark. 

I  favor  Federal  legislation  only  for  interstate  commerce.  I 
believe  in  holding  companies  to  a  limited  extent ;  in  government 
regulation  of  capitalization;  in  publicity  for  commercial  cor- 
porations. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  and  modi- 
fication of  the  Sherman  Law.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are 
due  to  too  much  "  trust  busting/' 


195 

C.    R.  Wheeler,    President    The    First    National    Bank   of 
Peoria,  Peoria,  111. 

I  favor  Federal  legislation  requiring  national  incorporation 
for  companies  doing  interstate  commerce.  I  do  not  believe  in 
holding  companies.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion, and  laws  should  be  enacted  applying  publicity  to  com- 
mercial corporations.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in 
such  a  way  that  all  corporations  can  work  under  it  without  vio- 
lating the  law,  unless  they  violate  it  with  full  knowledge  of 
what  they  are  doing.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission 
with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers.  Dis- 
turbed business  conditions  are  due  to  the  agitation  of  the  tariff, 
and  bringing  suit  against  the  different  corporations  of  the 
country,  whose  defense  is  that  the  Sherman  Act  is  not  clear  in 
its  meaning. 

George  C.  Watt,  Vice-President  First  National  Bank,  Brad- 
dock,  Pa. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business;  also  inspection  the  same  as  national  banks,  and 
published  sworn  annual  statements  to  be  sent  to  each  stock- 
holder. I  favor  laws  preventing  a  company  located  in  any 
one  State  from  owning  a  stock  company  incorporated  and  doing 
business  in  another  State.  The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  should 
be  amended  to  specifically  forbid  certain  practices.  The  gov- 
ernment should  regulate  capitalization  and  publicity  should  be 
applied  to  commercial  corporations.  Admitting  the  advantages 
claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  such  corpora- 
tions should  be  under  careful  regulation  and  restriction.  I  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  causes  of  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions  are,  in  my  judgment,  too  much  politics  and 
crude  legislation,  as  well  as  the  large  production  of  gold. 

Samuel  R.  Bell,  Cashier  The  Larchmont  National  Bank, 
Larchmont,  N.  Y. 

My  answer  as  to  present  disturbed  business  conditions  ap- 
plies throughout  every  civilized  country.  The  conversion  of 
" liquid"  capital  into  "fixed"  improvements  and  the  economic 
conflict  between  the  old  principle  of  competition  and  the  mod- 
ern principle  of  combination  prevails  everywhere  throughout 
civilization.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  by  specify- 
ing what  is  "  unreasonable  "  monopoly  or  "  restraint  of  trade." 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates.  The  holding  company  is  not  necessarily  an  evil,  but  it 
should  be  controlled  by  a  Federal  commission,  and  all  publicity 
required  as  to  its  operation.  I  prefer  Federal  legislation  or 
review  of  State  incorporations  by  a  Federal  commission  for  com- 
panies doing  interstate  commerce. 


A.  Goodell  &  Sons  Company,  Investment  Bankers,  Loda, 

You  are  starting  at  the  wrong  end  to  accomplish  desired 
regulation  of  all  large  companies.  Take  ont  the  enormous  profits 
accruing  to  the  organizers  of  any  great  corporation,  such  as  the 
Beef,  Tobacco,  Sugar,  Oil  and  Transportation  companies,  and 
you  would  settle  the  question  once  for  all.  A  supervision  of 
all  interstate  corporations  by  the  national  government,  such  as 
is  now  in  force  in  regard  to  national  banks,  limiting  capital- 
ization to  reasonable  and  specified  amounts  and  controlling  the 
issue  of  stocks  and  bonds,  would  do  more  to  settle  this  question 
than  any  other  legislation.  The  trouble  now  is  any  group  of 
individuals  can  organize  without  capital  and  escape  personal 
liability  such  as  a  private  individual  must  assume.  This  would 
immediately  decrease  the  number  of  corporations  to  legitimate 
needs  and  check  wild  speculation  and  promotion  schemes  in- 
tended to  defraud  the  people. 

We  are  the  laughing  stock  of  the  foreigners  and  too  con- 
ceited and  dishonest  in  our  business  methods  to  see  our  own 
shortcomings.  Railroads  have  been  run  by  a  lot  of  stock  gam- 
blers pure  and  simple.  The  Alton,  Bock  Island  and  a  lot  of 
others  were  fleeced.  They  are  examples  of  what  unbridled  greed 
of  speculators  will  do  for  a  good  road.  No  man  is  safe  to  invest 
his  money  in  stocks  of  these  great  combinations.  Of  course 
there  are  exceptions,  but  the  conditions  are  as  bad  as  in  the 
life  insurance  companies  before  the  late  unpleasantness.  The 
whole  trouble  is  we  are  trying  to  regulate  something  ivhich 
should  not  be  allowed  to  exist.  I  mean  huge,  over-capitalized 
Corporations,  unwieldy,  expensive,  and  demoralizing  the  business 
conscience  of  the  nation,  building  up  enormous  fortunes  for  a 
few  individuals  who  cannot  give  it  away  as  fast  as  it  accumu- 
lates. On  the  other  hand,  our  poverty  and  crime  are  a  menace 
to  the  country. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to 
over-capitalization  such  as  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation. 
In  order  to  pay  dividends  on  stock  they  must  control  the  market 
and  obtain  a  fictitious  price  for  their  products,  such  as  $28  a 
ton  for  steel  rails,  with  no  variation  in  price.  This  means  high 
prices  to  railroads  for  construction  and  eventually  high  rates 
for  freight  to  consumer. 

I  emphatically  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be.  either  repealed  or  enforced.  Put  in  a  criminal  clause  which 
will  hold  officers  personally,  and  make  its  provisions  as  clear  as 
the  law  in  regard  ao  stealing. 

W.  M.  Kern,  Treasurer,  Dollar  Savings  Bank,  New  York. 

1  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  only  to  the  extent  of  regu- 
lating the  holdings  of  the  stockholders  to  prevent  a  limited  or 
monopolistic  corporation. 


197 

Charles  A.  Wickersham,  President  and  General  Manager, 
Atlanta  &  West  Point  Railroad  Co.,  The  Western 
Railway  of  Alabama,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

The  writer  is  not  a  "  trust  buster."  He  has  little  patience 
with  the  Sherman  Law  and  less  with  the  prosecutions  instituted 
to  enforce  it.  It  occurs  to  him  the  effect  is  not  good  on  the 
business  interests  of  the  country,  but,  on  the  contrary,  is  bad. 
This  law  had  two  purposes  in  view ;  one  to  preserve  competition, 
and  the  other  to  prevent  monopolies.  At  the  time  of  its  passage 
twenty  years  ago  there  may  have  been  some  excuse  for  it,  but 
now  the  condition  is  such  that  we  doubt  if  it  would  be  wise 
to  undertake  the  preservation  of  competition  or  the  preventing 
of  monopolies.  Commerce  has  undergone,  within  a  few  decades, 
a  wonderful  revolution,  owing  to  the  many  and  mighty  changes 
which  have  taken  place  in  conditions,  which  are  world-wide. 

Once  commerce  was  in  a  sense  local,  limited  by  national 
boundaries  and  racial  lines,  because  communication  and  trans- 
portation both  existed  within  narrow  bounds,  owing  to  time 
and  expense.  Largely  these  factors  have  disappeared,  and  com- 
merce, vi n fettered,  now  claims  universal  dominion.  It  ignores 
distance,  time,  expense  and  race;  steam  and  electricity  have 
united  into  one  commercial  empire  all  countries  and  all  races. 

Competition  once  was  a  struggle  between  individuals,  but 
now  it  is  a  struggle  between  countries.  To-day  each  great  coun- 
try is  striving  to  dominate  the  world  commerce.  The  conflict 
is  raging  between  Germany,  England,  France,  the  United  States 
and  other  powers.  Each  is  behind  its  forces  as  they  press  the 
conflict  to  secure  the  trade  of  China,  Japan,  South  America, 
Africa,  etc. 

Xow  it  is  evident  that  whoever  is  a  soldier  in  the  world- 
wide contest  must  control  unlimited  means,  resources  unbounded. 
Hence,  every  factor  which  enters  into  a  successful  effort  to  win 
the  market  of  this  or  that  people  must  be  within  the  grasp  of 
the  combatant. 

It  may  be  necessary  for  one  who  seeks  the  trade  of  some 
foreign  ^people  to  own  railroads,  ships,  telegraph  lines,  cables, 
manufacturing  plants,  elevators,  compresses,  saw  mills,  planta- 
tions, etc.  This  requires  millions,  yes,  billions  of  dollars,  con- 
centrated in  one  or  a  few  hands. 

When  so  much  capital  is  placed  under  control  of  so  few,  the 
result  is  necessarily  destruction  of  competition  in  the  common 
acceptation  of  the  word,  and  monopoly  takes  its  place.  Perhaps 
all  would  agree  that  in  the  world  competition  such  vast  concen- 
tration of  interests  must  exist  to  succeed,  but  the  difficulty  is 
that  when  any  commercial  institution  prepares  to  enter  the 
struggle,  as  a  competitor  in  the  world  markets,  locally  it  becomes 
a  monopoly  and  destroys  domestic  competition  in  a  large  meas- 
ure. So  if  we  intend  to  fight  for  the  world  commerce,  we  must 
not  hope  to  enjoy  unrestricted  domestic  competition  or  escape 
the  ills  of  monopolies. 


198 

For  these  reasons  we  are  not  in  favor  of  the  Sherman  Law, 
and  yet  we  would  not  say  there  should  be  no  regulation  of  com- 
merce. However,  what  those  regulations  should  be  and  how 
enforced,  I  am  not  in  a  position  to  say.  My  own  opinion  is, 
our  greatest  trouble  is  too  much  legislation.  If  we  intend  to 
insist  on  the  Sherman  Law  and  compel  competition  by  legisla- 
tion, and  we  do  it,  we  will  have  to  abandon  the  struggle  to  be- 
come dominant  in  the  world  commerce. 

David  Jameson,  Vice-President,  The  Citizens  National 
Bank,  New  Castle,  Pa. 

if  brought  about  by  fair  methods  and  in  the  natural  develop- 
ment of  a  business,  mere  bigness  should  not  be  inhibited,  nor 
the  mere  purchase,  absorption  or  merger  of  competitors,  unless 
preceded  by  unfair,  destructive  competition,  or  followed  by  ex- 
ploitation of  producers  of  raw  materials  or  consumers  of  finished 
product.  1  understand  this  to  be  the  interpretation  of  the  Sher- 
man Act  given  by  the  Supreme  Court,  although  it  might  be 
made  more  definite. 

it  does  not  seem  to  me  practicable  or  desirable  to  attempt  a 
quasi- judicial  supervision  of  business  in  its  multitudinous  rami- 
llcations.  Such  an  attempt  could  hardly  stop  short  of  fixing 
prices  of  commodities ;  and  in  an  attempt  to  restore  competition, 
we  would  destroy  it.  Punish  unfairness,  make  the  game  clean, 
and  let  the  competitors  play  it  out.  This  will  promote  trade, 
produce  strong  men  and  make  our  nation  great. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  Additional  legislation  is  needed  making 
destructive  competition  a  crime,  with  severe  punishment.  Ke- 
store  competitive  methods,  and  the  evil  will  disappear.  I  would 
abolish  holding  companies  if  a  way  could  be  found  to  avoid  the 
difficulties  growing  out  of  conflicting  State  laws.  So  far  as 
unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  are  concerned,  I 
would  keep  the  Sherman  Act  and  with  it  the  progress  made 
towards  its  interpretation,  but  would  try  to  make  it  more  defi- 
nite. The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  pub- 
licity should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods. 

S.  E.  Bradt,  Vice-President,  First  National  Bank  of  De 
Kalb  and  of  the  Commercial  and  Savings  Bank,  De 
Kalb,  111. 

I  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  and  specific  laws  to  gov- 
ern specific  cases.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  pri- 
marily, to  abuses  of  power  by  some  of  the  large  corporations; 
secondly,  to  ambiguity  of  the  Sherman  Law,  and  thirdly,  to 
politics.  (Perhaps  this  last  should  be  first.)  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Eail- 
roacls  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 


199 

Emerson  McMillin,  Banker  and  Officer  of  Many  Companies 
That  Manufacture  Coke,  Tar  and  Ammonia  Products, 
New  York  City. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  I  believe  in  holding  companies.  To  prohibit  the 
holding  of  the  stock  of  one  company  by  another  would  be  a 
serious  step  backward.  Laws  can  be  made  to  punish  abuses  of 
the  right.  The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  has  worked  so  dis- 
astrously during  the  last  few  years  that  I  would  prefer  statutes 
expressly  forbidding  specified  practices  for  dealing  with  unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  I  favor  laws  providing  for 
government  regulation  of  capitalization.  There  is  absolutely 
no  excuse  for  overcapitalization.  In  response  to  the  question 
relating  to  the  protection  of  minority  stockholders — I  have  either 
controlled  or  been  largely  interested  in  scores  of  corpora- 
tions, but  have  never  known  of  injustice  to  minority  stock- 
holders, and  have  never  had  one  complain.  On  the  other  hand, 
1  have  known  minority  stockholders  to  bleed  the  majority  out- 
rageously when  the  approval  of  all  shares  was  necessary  to 
reorganization. 

I  approve  all  the  claims  of  advantages  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale,  and  think  that  they  sufficiently  cover  that 
branch  of  the  subject.  I  do  not  recognize  as  a  fact  the  state- 
ment that  to  secure  these  advantages  provision  must  be  made 
by  Federal  law.  There  is  no  more  necessity  for  regulating  large 
corporations  than  small  ones.  There  are  ten  thousand  abuses 
by  individuals,  especially  amongst  the  professional  classes,  for 
every  single  abuse  by  corporations.  To  satisfy  (but  not  to 
protect)  the  public,  1  favor  the  commissions. 

"  Do  you  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted, 
is  made  (a)  clear  and  (b)  workable?77  To  "  a,"  yes.  To  "b," 
no.  So  long  as  attorney-generals  are  human  there  will  be  turmoil 
under  the  existing  law,  even  as  interpreted. 

"  Do  you  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  what 
are  commonly  known  as  old  competitive  methods?77  I  pray  and 
hope  not. 

I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  It  should  be 
amended.  Bailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements, 
affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act — all  Americans  are  equal.  As 
to  combinations  of  farmers — any  law  should  apply  equally  to  all. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law. 
I  have  profound  respect  for  commissions,  but  think  it  possible 
to  go  too  far.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the 
approaching  Presidential  campaign. 


200 

F.  J.   Atwood,  President  First   National  Bank,  Concordia, 
Kan. 

National  incorporation  might  bo  better  for  companies  en- 
gaged in  interstate  commerce;  but  Federal  license  could  more 
readily  be  obtained,  probably.  I  am  not  opposed  to  holding- 
companies  if  under  government  supervision  and  control.  Tin- 
Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable,  and  should  be  re- 
pealed, if  coincident  with  the  enactment  of  a  better  law.  Kail- 
roads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
Combinations  of  farmers  should  be  permitted,  subject  to  gov- 
ernmental approval  of  their  methods.  In  addition  to  the  ad- 
vantages claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  are 
economies  in  the  time  of  the  public;  the  long  haul,  through 
trains,  department  stores,  etc.  The  government  should  regu- 
late capitalization  and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commer- 
cial corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due.  in  my  judgment,  to 
lack  of  harmony  between  business  conditions  and  laws  relating 
thereto.  I  believe  the  whole  matter  should  be  considered  by  a 
commission  composed  of  the  ablest  men  obtainable — as  nearly 
non-partisan  as  possible — they  to  recommend  definite,  compre- 
hensive, scientific  and  constructive  legislation  calculated  to  meet 
twentieth  century  industrial  conditions. 

James  H.  Ritter,  President  Chelten  Trust  Company,  Phila- 
delphia, Pa. 

From  a  business  (not  banking)  experience  of  many  years, 
I  am  convinced  that  free  competition  is  commercial  warfare. 
On  the  other  hand,  fostering  of  large  corporations  is  sure  to 
result  in  governmental  ownership  and  socialism.  I  prefer  Fed- 
eral license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce,  and 
would  further  suggest  that  a  State  corporation  should  be  per- 
mitted to  take  out  State  licenses  in  one  or  two  adjoining  states. 
The  public  need  protection  against  large  aggregations  of  capital. 
Perhaps  some  relief  could  be  obtained  by  limitation  of  capital 
or  amount  of  annual  business,  as  in  life  insurance  companies. 
1  believe  in  holding  companies,  within  reasonable  limits.  Unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade  can  be  dealt  with  under  the 
Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act.  The  government  should  regulate  cap- 
italization and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  cor- 
porations through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for  that  pur- 
pose. 

To  my  mind,  all  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  are  arguments  for  socialism,  and  such 
seems  to  be  the  trend  of  affairs  to-day.  Personally,  I  should 
be  and  am.  sorry  to  see  the  elimination  of  the  individual.  I  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Coin  mission  with  powers  not  unlike  those 
now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  rela- 
tion to  common  carriers. 


201 

Edward  S.  Bancroft,  President  Home  Mortgage  Investment 
Company  of  New  York  City. 

We  have  reached  the  stage  in  our  national  life  when  large 
capital  is  required,  and  many  branches  of  business  can  only  be 
conducted  by  means  of  a  great  combination  of  incorporated 
capital.  A  national  law  should  compel  labor  organizations  to  be. 
incorporated  and  under  national  control,  with  a  sufficient  capital, 
thus  making  labor  responsible  to  its  companion,  capital,  as  cap- 
ital is  responsible  to  labor. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  I  believe  in  holding  companies.  Unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with  by 
statutes  expressly  forbidding  specified  practices.  I  favor  laws 
providing  for  government  regulation  of  capitalization.  Only 
limit  capitalization  to  actual  cash  paid  in,  and  "good  will"  to 
appear  so  stated,  just  as  the  paid-in  surplus  appears. 

I  admit  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  so  far  as  economies  in  production,  economies 
in  distribution,  greater  use  of  by-products,  better  protection 
against  industrial  accidents  and  more  command  of  international 
irado  are  concerned.  I  question  the  claim  of  steadier  employ- 
ment of  labor  and  at  better  wages,  and  I  believe  that  "  command 
of  the  best  ability"  is  true  only  in  a  few  cases. 

I  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  as  a  necessary  evil.  Too  many  complicated  laws — 
too  frequently  changed  and  not  simple  and  clear  cut  when  made 
— are  the  causes  of  business  disturbance. 

B.  P.  Jones,  President,  Valdosta  Bank  &  Trust  Co.,  Vald- 
osta,  Ga. 

Eeduce  the  tariff  to  a  revenue  basis  and  you  will  not  have 
so  much  need  for  the  Sherman  Law.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Law 
as  clear  and  workable,  and  I  consider  it  would  be  best  for  the 
country  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  I  do  not  regard 
it  as  necessary  to  amend  the  Sherman  Law.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  if  they  do  not  control 
the  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  combinations  of  farmers  to 
obtain  fair  prices  for  their  products  should  be  lawful. 

Wm.  E.  Hamilton,  Real  Estate,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  impossible 
to  carry  on  dishonest  practices  such  as  have  alarmed  the  public 
within  recent  years;  also  to  prohibit  over-capitalization,  and 
thereby  protect  small  stockholders  and  prevent  the  exploitation 
of  investors.  I  favor  national  incorporation  and  Federal  license. 


202 

Warren  J.  Davis,  President,  Manufacturers  National  Bank, 
Racine,  Wis. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to 
over-extension  of  credit,  extravagance,  political  cowardice  in  the 
face  of  public  clamor,  increased  indebtedness.  Prosperity  in 
the  shape  of  large  earnings  leads  to  expansion  and  also  extrava- 
gance in  living.  This  leads  to  augmentation  of  fixed  capital, 
the  decrease  in  flexible  assets,  and  a  shrinkage  of  the  margin 
between  quick  assets  and  liabilities.  This  condition,  intensified 
by  the  distrust  engendered  by  political  demagogues,  and  the 
immobility  of  bank  reserves  at  critical  periods,  destroys  confi- 
dence, and  abridges  both  production  and  consumption. 

Get  rid  of  the  demagogue  first,  replace  him  with  a  business 
man  in  the  State  Legislature  and  Congress,  and  confidence  will 
return  and  prosperity  blossom  like  the  buds  in  spring  weather. 
Enact  a  sound  banking  system,  and  this  country  will  again 
command  the  respect  of  investing  nations,  and  inspire  its  own 
citizens  with  new  hope  and  life.  As  to  amending  the  Sherman 
Law,  I  would  prefer  to  wait  for  further  interpretation  by  the 
Supreme  Court.  I  think  I  favor  national  incorporation  and 
Federal  license.  I  do  not  yet  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. Leave  trade  alone.  Don't  try  to  put  it  in  a  straight- 
jacket.  It  is  politically  enslaved  now.  Give  it  liberty  or  you 
will  kill  it.  It  is  nearly  paralyzed  now. 

W.   A.   Miller,   President,  Guarantee  Title  &  Trust  Com- 
pany, Columbus,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended,  if  in  any  way,  to 
make  it  more  strongly  applicable  against  attempts  of  stifling 
competition.  The  Sherman  Law  is  perhaps  as  clear  and  work- 
able as  any  law  that  could  be  framed.  I  favor  a  national  in- 
corporation law.  As  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  my 
reply  is  negative.  Eailroads  need  such  supervision  because  they 
are  common  carriers.  If  we  have  good,  healthy,  open  and  free 
competitive  conditions  restored  in  merchandising  and  manufac- 
turing, the  resultant  competition  will  serve  as  a  sufficient  leveller, 
will  keep  out  inflation,  and  cause  all  goods  to  be  manufactured 
and  marketed  under  the  most  economical  conditions. 

Edward  Ivinson,  President  First  National  Bank,  Laramie, 
Wyo. 

I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable, 
it  should  be  made  more  explicit.  I  do  not  consider  it  feasible 
to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law;  but  not 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Politics  and  fear  of  drastic 
measures  from  the  Sherman  Law  are  the  causes  of  business  dis- 
turbance. 


203 

R.   B.   Raines,  President,  First   National  Bank,  Independ- 
ence, la. 

Admitting  all  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale,  the  great  disadvantage  resulting  is  to  the 
individual ;  more  and  more,  men  become  only  parts  of  a  machine. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  by  denning  what  is  re- 
ferred to  by  the  Supreme  Court  as  "  Good  Trusts."  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and 
combinations  of  farmers  to  secure  reasonable  prices  for  their 
crops  ought  to  be  rendered  lawful.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law,  Federal  license,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 
In  my  judgment,  the  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  are 
extravagance,  private  and  public;  everybody  anxious  to  get  rich 
quick,  and  willing  to  strain  credit  to  the  breaking  point. 

T.  B.  Caldwell,  President,  Merchants  &  Planters  National 
Bank;  also  Farmer,  Mt.  Pleasant,  Tex. 

Individuality  under  just  laws  is  all  that  is  necessary  to  pro- 
mote happiness  and  confidence  in  business.  Too  many  people 
are  depending  on  the  States  and  the  United  States  for  help  in 
the  form  of  pensions  and  Government  employment.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  only  for  railroads.  I  am  not  in  favor 
at  present  of  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law. 

The  general  government  has  already  encroached  upon  States 
rights  by  taxing  corporations  created  by  the  States.  The  gen- 
eral government  has  no  right  to  take  from  a  State  a  right  to 
tax  its  corporations  by  exacting  an  additional  tax  in  behalf  of 
the  United  States.  Neither  do  I  believe  that  the  United  States 
1ms  a  right  to  tax  incomes.  Leave  that  to  the  States.  An  im- 
port tax  is  all  the  government  has  a  right  to  collect. 

J.  C.  Hales,  President,  Branch  Banking  Company,  Wilson, 
N.  C. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  I  do  not  believe  that  any  of  the  advantages  claimed 
for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  are  peculiar  to  large 
combinations.  The  only  true  and  healthy  condition  is  a  fair 
field  to  all,  and  you  cannot  have  this  if  you  allow  such  large 
combinations  as  deter  and  prevent  individual  effort,  enterprise 
and  character.  I  am  entirely  opposed  to  large,  top-heavy  com- 
binations, no  matter  what  reasons  are  given  for  their  existence, 
or  advantages  claimed.  I  believe  they  are  inherently  dangerous 
and  cannot  be  made  otherwise.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  to  prohibit  without  condition  the  control  of  more  than 
a  certain  percentage  of  the  purchase,  manufacture  or  sale  of 
any  monopoly  within  the  United  States,  thus  declaring  at  once 
what  is  a  trust  or  monopoly.  Ten  per  cent,  is  enough  for  any- 
one. 


204 

Lynn  H.  Dinkins,  President,  Interstate  Trust  &  Banking 
Company,  New  Orleans,  La. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  specific, 
and  to  say  what  is  prohibited  and  what  is  permitted.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license,,  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  I  believe  in  holding  companies;  in  govern- 
ment regulation  of  capitalization;  and  in  publicity  for  com- 
mercial corporations.  To  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale,  should  be  added,  resources  sufficient 
to  exploit  new  ideas  tending  towards  increased  efficiency  in  any 
direction  when  possible  results  may  be  long  deferred. 

Jas.   K.   Blish,   President,  First   National   Bank,   Kewanee, 
111. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable;  I  think  the 
Supreme  Court  has  emasculated  it.  I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of 
the  Sherman  Law;  I  favor  revising  it,  making  it  better  and 
stronger.  I  do  not  feel  competent  to  say  just  in  what  particu- 
lars, unless  to  give  the  courts  to  understand  that  it  means  what 
it  says,  and  is  not  to  be  frittered  away  by  judicial  interpretation. 
I  think  that  we  should  be  fair  with  railroads,  and  also  that  they 
should  be  compelled  to  be  fair  with  the  people.  I  believe  that 
they  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 

I  think  a  Federal  license  law  might  work  well,  and  I  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers  not  unlike  those 
now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  rela- 
tion to  common  carriers. 

O.    M.    Bake,    President,    Miami    Valley    National    Bank, 
Hamilton,  Ohio. 

I  favor  Federal  legislation  for  companies  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization, 
and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations 
through  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  to  remove  any  defects  that  have  been  found 
to  exist.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  general 
dissatisfaction  of  employees  with  the  high  cost  of  living. 

George  H.  Hollister,  President,  The  Northern  Trust  Com- 
pany, Fargo,  N.  D. 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  capitalization  only  for  cash, 
through  publicity  of  operations,  and  a  fair  and  intelligent  tariff, 
would  work  wonders  all  along  the  lines  mentioned  in  your 
questionnaire.  I  am  inclined  to  favor  state  control,  with  Federal 
license  granted  upon  filing  in  Washington  of  statements  of 
business  assets,  liabilities,  profits,  expenses,  dividends,  etc.,  in 
detail  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  road  as  originally  intended 
and  strengthened. 


205 

Frank  N.  Briggs,  President  of  Interstate  Savings  Bank 
and  President  of  Colorado  Bankers  Association,  Den- 
ver, Colo,  (who  started  life  in  direst  poverty,  and 
in  this  free  country,  and  under  its  present  laws,  has 
come  into  a  comfortable  financial  condition  by  the 
practice  of  economy  and  industry). 

Let  the  natural  laws  of  competition  and  commerce  control 
business  and  commerce,  as  it  has  done  before  very  satisfactorily 
to  the  people  of  this  country.  I  believe  in  holding  companies, 
if  the  privilege  is  not  abused.  1  believe  in  free  commerce  among 
free  people.  Stock  issued  should  never  exceed  cash  values  in- 
vested; that  is  far  enough  to  go.  I  do  not  believe  in  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  There  is  too  much  interference  with 
property  rights  now.  I  believe  the  advantages  claimed  for  those 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale  to  be  correct  in  honestly  con- 
ducted business. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  but  is  too  restrictive,  and  I  favor 
its  repeal.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act;  treat  all  organizations  alike,  if 
we  must  be  under  such  a  law.  The  same  statement  applies  1o 
farmers. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  politics,  office- 
seekers,  job  hunters  and  all  other  kinds  of  agitators,  \vho  con- 
sider it  a  popular  thing  to  attack  business  interests. 

H.  W.  Sutton,  Cashier,  First  National  Bank,  McKees 
Rocks,  Pa. 

Loss  of  faith  in  big  business  by  the  common  people  has  had 
much  to  do  with  causing  unsatisfactory  business  conditions. 
Added  to  this  loss  of  faith  has  been  loss  of  confidence  in  the 
laws  of  the  country,  as  administered  by  our  judges.  The  ordin- 
ary man  appears  to  have  no  show  in  local  or  supreme  courts 
when  up  against  politicians  or  money.  Abolish  marginal  trad- 
ing on  stock  exchanges  and  the  grain  exchange,  and  make  it 
unlawful  to  corner  anything,  and  something  will  be  effected 
toward  improving  conditions. 

G.  J.  Planz,  President,  Security  Trust  Company,  Bakers- 
field,  Cal. 

T  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade 
should  be  reached  by  statutes  expressly  forbidding  specified  prac- 
tices. The  government  should  regulate  capitalization  and  apply 
publicity  to  commercial  corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission  to  permit  large  aggregations  of  capital  under 
single  control,  and  for  the  merger  from  time  to  time  of  smaller 
corporations.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to 
it  perfectly  plain. 


206 

H.  P.  Goff,  President  The  Crafton  Trust  Co.,  Crafton,  Pa. 

The  present  disturbed  business  conditions  have  been  caused 
by  a  series  of  events  and  blunders  on  the  part  of  persons  occupy- 
ing high  position,  extending  over  a  period  of  several  years,  by 
muck-raking,  frenzied  finance,  frenzied  politics,  frenzied  court 
decisions  (Judge  Landis  in  the  Standard  Oil  case,  for  instance), 
to  say  nothing  of  a  frenzied  Department  of  Justice.  These  and 
other  causes  have  lent  their  part  in  bringing  about  a  country- 
wide spirit  of  unrest  and  general  lack  of  confidence.  The  vague 
fear  of  some  impending  evil  (in  the  Sherman  Act)  has  operated 
in  disrupting  mutuality  in  business,  resulting  in  ill-advised, 
unrestrained  and  ruthless  competition  for  business,  immediately 
traceable  to  the  withdrawal  of  the  Eepublic  Iron  and  Steel 
Company  from  the  Association  of  Manufacturers,  who  met 
periodically  for  the  purpose  of  conferring  as  to  their  general 
welfare.  The  present  chaotic  conditions  can  be  expected  to 
exist,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  until  there  is  established 
co-operation  and  mutuality  among  manufacturers  generally  by 
governmental  regulatation  or  otherwise. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  its  meaning 
shall  be  made  clear,  definite  and  unambiguous.  I  favor  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

To  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a 
large  scale  should  be  added  others,  such  as  safeguarding  the 
health  and  happiness  of  employees  and  their  families  by  pro- 
viding modern  sanitary  dwellings.  This  the  smaller  manufac- 
turer is  not  able  in  many  instances  to  do. 

W.  M.  Gilbert,  President,  National  Manufacturers'  Bank  of 
Neenah,  Wis. 

For  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  I  prefer 
State  incorporation,  with  perhaps  a  Federal  license  for  inter- 
state business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  or  addi- 
tional legislation  enacted  to  determine  what  combinations  shall 
be  held  to  be  illegal.  I  believe  that  one  corporation  might  hold 
stock  in  another,  but  not  a  controlling  interest.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization  and  provide  for  publicity  to  be 
applied  to  commercial  corporations.  An  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission would  probably  be  effective  of  good  results. 

"  In  your  judgment  what  caused  or  causes  the  present  dis- 
turbed business  conditions"  Answer — "Why  do  the  heathen 
rage  and  the  people  imagine  a  vain  thing?" 

E.  L.  Meyer,  President  First  National  Bank,  Hutchinson, 
Kan. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  I  favor  laws  that  will  prevent  one  com- 
pany from  holding  stock  in  another  company.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  to  permit  agreements  which  regulate  production, 
price?  and  the  like  under  suitable  public  control. 


207 

Seth  L.  Cushman,  President  Bristol  County  National  Bank, 
Taunton,  Mass. 

I  favor  both  national  incorporation  and  Federal  license  for 
companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce,  leaving  the  choice 
optional.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  It  should  be 
completely  done  away  with.  There  should  not  be  any  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  to  have  anything  to  do  with  railway  rates. 
I  am  most  decidedly  opposed  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. As  I  have  already  pointed  out,  I  do  not  favor  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission. 

.Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  the  fear  of  legis- 
lativo  interference  in  response  to  the  demand  from  the  unsuc- 
cessful and  socialistic  masses,  together  with  the  aggressions  of 
the  labor  reformer.  If  a  business  man  or  corporation  or  a  com- 
mon carrier  is  to  be  told  by  commissions  what  their  product  is 
to  be  sold  for  (be  it  goods  or  transportation),  then  those  who 
sell  to  them  must  be  told  what  price  to  charge.  Eegulate  both 
• -inls.  if  at  all.  When  it  comes  to  that,  Government  better 
do  the  business  and  pension  all  the  people.  Anybody  with  busi- 
ness ability  will  then  go  to  Germany  or  Canada,  where  they 
could  reap  the  benefit  of  their  ability. 

I  am  not  in  favor  of  too  much  publicity  as  to  business  mat- 
ters; that  is  a  "fad"  that  is  being  overworked.  Committees 
and  commissions,  as  usually  made  up,  generally  manage  to 
destroy  business  and  simply  please  the  curious. 

W.  H.  Powers,  President,  Commercial  National  Bank,  Brad- 
ford, Pa. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  forbid 
specified  acts.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  I  favor  national  incorporation  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Laws  should  be  passed  provid- 
ing that  stocks  and  bonds  should  only  be  isued  at  par  on  a  cash 
l»asi>.  Publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations. 
I  believe  to  a  limited  extent  in  holding  companies.  Extreme 
measures  in  trust  prosecution  are  largely  responsible  for  busi- 
ness disturbance. 

T.  S.  Chapman,  President  Jersey  State  Bank,  also  Farmer, 
Jerseyville,  111. 

Believing  that,  regardless  of  whether  it  is  big  or  little  busi- 
ness, competition  is  necessary  for  the  best  conditions  of  develop- 
ment, I  also  think  that  while  big  business  is  comparatively  new, 
if  not  hampered  by  adverse  legislation  and  litigation,  in  a  short 
time  big  business  will  stimulate  competition  just  as  big.  Aggre- 
gation of  capital  is  necessary.  We  cannot  have  a  big  country 
and  all  little  men  or  little  business.  The'  attitude  of  legislation 
should  be  as  big-  and  broad  as  the  biggest  business  and  equally 
applicable  to  all. 


W.  D.  Morgan,  President,  Bank  of  Georgetown,  George- 
town, S.  C. 

1  believe  that  in  this  age  a  combination  of  capital  and  inter- 
ests is  necessary  to  economically  handle  the  country's  lately 
increasing  business.  Fictitious  capitalization  or  watering  of 
stock^  is.  in  my  opinion,,  largely  responsible  for  breaks  in  the 
stock  market,  the  passing  of  dividends  and  disturbance  of  busi- 
ness generally.  Old-fashioned  honest  business  methods  applied 
to  modern  conditions  would  have  a  great  elfect  in  curing  the  sick 
business  child  and  restoring  it  to  a  healthy  condition.  This  is 
a  free  country,  and  free  and  unrestrained  competition  should 
exist. 

I  am  not  sufficiently  familiar  with  the  Sherman  Law  and 
court  decisions  to  suggest  amendments.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act 
if  operated  in  restraint  of  trade.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

E.  M.  Scott,  President,  First  National  Bank  of  Huttig; 
Manager,  Union  Saw  Mill  Company;  General  Su- 
perintendent, Louisiana  &  Pine  Bluff  Railway  Com- 
pany; Director,  Frost-Johnson  Lumber  Company. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  or  made  to  conform 
to  present-day  conditions.  If  not  repealed,  it  should  be  amended 
so  that  certainty  of  expression  would  indicate  what  could  be 
done  lawfully.  Uncertainty  as  to  what  can  be  lawfully  done 
and  prosecutions  under  the  Sherman  Law  are,  in  my  judgment, 
tbo  chief  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions.  We  need 
first  a  workable  law  and  a  Trade  Commission  with  much  the 
same  latitude  as  a  board  of  directors  managing  the  affairs  of 
a  corporation. 

I  favor  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 


H.  C.  Lucas,  Vice-President  Yakima  Trust  Company,  North 
Yakima,   Wash. 

I  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  and  if  not  repealed,  I 
think  that  all  combinations,  including  labor  unions  and  farmers, 
should  come  under  the  law;  otherwise  it  looks  to  me  like  class 
legislation.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  for  inter- 
state commerce  corporations. 

The  causes  of  present  disturbed  business  conditions,  in  my 
judgment,  are  the  politicians  who  want  to  pass  laws  to  apply 
to  all  the  States,  when  the  law  they  desire  will  benefit,  perhaps, 
merely  the  State  from  which  the  representative  conies.  To  put 
ibis  matter  concisely,  the  cause  for  the  present  condition  is  "too 
much  politics." 


209 

T.  D.  Collins,  President,  Citizens  National  Bank,  Tionesta, 
Pa.,  also  Farmer,  Merchant,  Oil  Producer,  Lumber- 
man, Civil  Engineer  and  President  and  General  Man- 
ager of  the  Sheffield  and  Tionesta  Railroad  Company, 
Nebraska,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be  am  ended  unless  to  make 
it  clearer  and  more  effective.  I  regard  as  feasible  a  return  to 
old  competitive  methods.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Business  disturbance  is  due,  first,  to  the  high  tariff,  then  to 
labor  unions  demanding  high  prices  for  labor  and  short  hours, 
or  lessening  the  hours  for  a  day's  work.  The  farmer  cannot 
produce  his  farm  products  at  the  prices  of  to-day  and  pay 
present  prices  for  his  labor.  I  do  not  believe  in  trusts.  I  do 
not  Mieve  that  the  business  of  the  country  should  be  done 
by  half  a  dozen  men,  and  that  all  the  rest  of  mankind  should 
be  no  better  than  serfs. 

J.  G.  Smyth,  Lumber  Manufacturer,  Cattleman,  Ranch 
Owner,  Merchant  and  President  of  Commercial  Na- 
tional Bank,  Uvalde,  Tex. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  and  Federal  license  for  large 
incorporations;  also  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  made  intelligible  to  the  business  man 
and  the  investor. 

To  do  business  successfully  to-day,  we  must  have  combina- 
tions of  capital  and  only  in  corporations  can  men  with  little 
capital  successfully  enter  business.  Our  corporation  laws  should 
be  Avritten  plain  and  the  assets,  liabilities  and  earnings  should 
be  published  to  the  world  as  in  national  'banks,  and  all  utterers 
or  venders  of  fake  stocks  and  bonds  should  be  punished  by  long 
terms  in  the  penitentiary.  Stocks  should  be  issued  only  for 
cash  and  that  at  par.  and  bonds  at  not  more  than  one-half  of 
the  value  of  property  bonded. 

C.  H.  Worden,  First  Vice-President,  First  National  Bank, 
Fort  Wayne,  Ind. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  and  regulation  for  companies 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Act  as 
sufficient  to  deal  with  unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity 
should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations.  I  believe  in  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale,  and  I  believe  that  the  advantages 
cl aimed  for  "  large-scale  "  business  all  exist — and  perhaps  others. 
I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike 
those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in 
relation  to  common  carriers. 


210 

Charles  H.  Wright,  Municipal  Bonds,  Chicago,  111. 

If  it  were  possible,  I  would  like  to  see  the  States  adopt  a 
uniform  Corporation  Law.  If  it  is  not  possible,  a  Federal 
license  is  probably  next  best,  ""with  the  intent  of  the  Sherman 
Law  as  interpreted  in  the  recent  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court 
as  the  basis  for  the  issuance  .of  this  Federal  license,,  and  carry- 
ing a  corporation's  right  to  engage  in  interstate  business. 

I  suppose  it  is  too  much  to  wish  that  some  day  our  courts 
may  be  able  to  distinguish  between  points  of  justice  and  points 
of  law.  I  do  not  think  justice  should  ever  be  compelled  to  wait 
upon  law  and  precedent;  as  long  as  it  does  so  there  will  be 
dissatisfaction  with  laws  and  law  makers.  It  is  the  old  conflict 
of  the  "  letter  "  and  the  "  spirit." 

Bryan  Lathrop,  Trustee  of  Many  Estates  and  President 
Graceland  Cemetery  Company,  Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  either  be  repealed  or  amended, 
so  as  to  make  clear  to  all  men  the  conditions  on  which  com- 
binations can  be  legally  formed,,  in  such  a  way  as  to  lessen  costs, 
without  creating  a  monopoly  or  restraining  trade. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license,  and 
my  present  impression  is  in  favor  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. The  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  are,  first, 
an  inelastic  currency;  second,  uncertainty  under  the  Sherman 
Law,  which  has  prevented  an  earlier  return  to  normal  business 
conditions. 

H.  S.  Willard,  Pig  Iron  Manufacturer  and  President  First 
National   Bank  of  Wellston,  Wellston,  Ohio 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if  wages  are  regu- 
lated also.  The  root  of  the  evil  of  high  prices  (if  high  prices 
are  an  evil)  should  be  treated  as  well  as  the  branches.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law  if  it  will  give  stability,  confidence 
and  peace,  removing  the  hostility  of  government  to  business. 
For  the  same  reasons  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  repealed  or  amended.  If  amended,  it  should 
be  made  clear  and  definite,  defining  plainly  what  is  conspiracy 
and  restraint  of  trade. 

C.  S.  Johnson,  Cashier,  The  First  National  Bank,  Platts- 
burgh,  N.  Y. 

I  favor  Federal  legislation  for  dealing  with-  companies  en- 
gaged in  interstate  commerce.  The  government  should  regulate 
capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial 
corporations.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


211 

Charles  S.  Shultz,  President  Hoboken  Bank  for  Savings, 
Hoboken,  N.  J. 

I  think  it  proper  that  a  Federal  non-partisan  commission 
should  be  constituted  to  regulate  large  combinations  and  to 
secure  to  the  people  the  benefit  of  their  operations.  I  favor 
Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce. 
Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with 
by  statutes  expressly  forbidding  specified  practices.  The  gov- 
ernment should  regulate  capitalization  and  should  provide  for 
publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations  through  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  which  would  permit  agreements 
and  regulate  production. 

Charles  J.  Griswold,  Cashier,  The  National  Hamilton  Bank, 
Hamilton,  N.  Y. 

The  great  superstition  of  the  past  was  the  divine  right  of 
kings.  The  great  superstition  of  the  present  is  the  divine  right 
of  legislatures.  Natural  law  and  not  artificial  law  will  best 
govern  trade.  Therefore  the  less  legislation  the  better.  The 
"  square  deal "  should,  of  course,  be  preserved,  but  we  cannot 
legislate  a  common  success.  We  may  forbid  individuals  to  act 
together,  but  this  will  not  give  individuals  a  better  chance  to 
act  alone.  We  may  legislate  brains  out  of  our  industrial  life, 
but  this  would  not  make  the  fools  more  efficient. 

Clarence  Buckingham  (not  active),  Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law,  in  my  judgment,  is  not  clear  and  work- 
able; and  I  should  favor  changes  and  modification  that  would 
make  it  plain  and  workable.  Kailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  trade  unions  should 
be  treated  the  same  as  the  employers.  I  favor  a  Federal  license 
law  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  Lack  of 
confidence  and  politics  are  the  causes  of  business  disturbance. 

S.  W.  Pierce,  President,  The  Central  National  Bank,  Junc- 
tion City,  Kan. 

I  favor  Federal  .license  for  companies  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  far 
as  may  be  necessary  to  make  it  more  effective.  Combinations 
of  farmers  to  secure  fair  prices  for  their  products  should  be 
lawful.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  and  laws 
applying  publicity  to  commercial  corporations. 

O.    F.    Anderson,    Cashier    Moline   Trust    Savings    Bank, 
Moline,  111. 

I  prefer  national  legislation  for  dealing  with  companies 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  Let  the  Sherman  Law  stand 
as  it  is.  It  does  not  matter  how  large  an  aggregation  of  capital 
is  employed,  provided  no  unfair  methods  nre  used  to  stifle  com- 
petition. 


212 

G.  H.  Nye,  President  of  Cayuga  County  National  Bank, 
also  President  of  Nye  &  Wait  Carpet  Company, 
Auburn,  N.  Y. 

High  living;  extermination  of  everything  that  could  be  con- 
verted into  cash;  unequal  and  unjust  taxation,  and  rapid  in- 
crease in  valuations,  causing  higher  rents,  etc.,  as  well  as  the 
wide  difference  between  mill  and  retail  values,  are  among  the 
chief  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions. 

Incorporate  and  tax  all  business  enterprises.  This  not  only 
protects  the  community  but  the  creditor.  Private  bankers  in  par- 
ticular are  almost  immune  from  taxation. 

One  of  the  greatest  sources  of  discontent  is  the  taxation  of 
capital  where  the  general  offices  are  located,  and  the  consequent 
restriction  of  local  taxes  to  real  property  based  on  an  arbitrary 
valuation  by  local  assessors.  In  this  way  the  capitalization 
largely  escapes,  while  the  home  bears  a  constantly  increasing 
burden.  The  competition  of  communities  offering  a  low  tax 
rato,  or  freedom  from  taxes,  should  be  prohibited.  Assessors 
are  in  fear  of  manufacturing  plants  removing  if  they  do  their 
duty.  There  should  be  uniform  taxation  laws. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  under  uniform  law,  dis- 
tributing taxes  pro  rata  to  its  constituent  parts.  I  believe  in 
holding  companies,  if  minority  interests  are  properly  safe- 
guarded. The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and 
laws  calling  for  publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial  corpora- 
tions should  be  enacted.  In  regard  to  the  advantages  claimed 
for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  si-ale,  it  should  be  added  that 
in  a  large  business  the  standard  of  efficiency  is  that  of  the 
highest  unit;  others  must  be  brought  up  to  it.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.  W.  Campbell,  Cashier  Commercial  National  Bank  and 
Member  of  Iowa  General  Assembly,  Fort  Dodge, 
Iowa. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  busi- 
ness. I  also  favor  government  regulation  of  capitalization  and 
publicity  for  commercial  corporations.  Admitting  the  advan- 
tages claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  those 
advantages  exist  in  the  interest  of  those  interested  only,  not  for 
the  consumer.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  as  to 
penalties,  or  in  any  way  to  strengthen  the  act.  The  law  is  all 
right,  but  some  court  decisions  seem  more  like  an  attempt  to 
evade,  rather  than  to  sustain  the  law.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  if  the  commissioners  are  hon- 
est and  know  their  business.  Trade  unions  should  not  be 
allowed  to  interfere  with  any  person's  business.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  causes  of  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions,  in  my  judgment,  are  poor  crops,  too  many  auto- 
mobiles and  too  much  extravagance. 


Frank  Chapman,  Flour  Miller  and  President  Ogdensburg 
Bank,  Ogdensburg,  N.  Y. 

Too  much  agitation;  too  much  litigation  on  the  part  of  the 
Federal  government  against  railroads  and  other  corporations; 
uncertainty,  doubt,  fear;  our  President  talking,  talking,  talk- 
ing, and  the  Attorney-General  threatening,  threatening,  appar- 
ently thankful  that  they  are  not — as  they  class  successful  men 
to  be — extortioners,  thieves  and  law-breakers;  all  these  are  the 
causes  of  business  disturbance.  "  Big  business  "  has  brought 
to  the  consumer  better  product  and  cheaper  price.  It  has  also 
secured  a  higher  grade  of  talent  and  skill,  both  in  management 
and  employees.  I  favor  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and 
the  enactment  of  new  laws  wisely  construed  to  meet  present 
conditions.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  if  wisely  and 
broadly  drawn,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  if  politics 
can  be  eliminated  therefrom  and  removal  therefrom  can  be  made 
only  for  cause. 

H.  V.  Alward,  Cashier  First  National  Bank  of  Kalispell, 
Kalispell,  Mont. 

A  conviction  on  the  part  of  the  business  people  that  radical 
changes  in  the  organization  of  business  are  to  take  place  and  that 
an  adjustment  of  the  tariff  is  imminent,  causing  a  hesitancy  in 
future  commitments;  a  conviction  011  the  part  of  corporation 
managers  that  their  present  status  is  only  temporary,  and  that 
there  is  no  proper  and  legal  way  to  put  themselves  on  a  perma- 
nent basis,  are  the  causes  of  disturbance  in  business.  A  timidity 
has  also  been  brought  about  on  the  part  of  bond  investors  by 
the  prosecution  of  corporations  whose  obligations  are  held  ex- 
tensively throughout  the  United  States.  I  prefer  national  incor- 
poration for  companies  doing  interstate  commerce.  1  regard  it 
as  having  some  advantage  in  giving  a  corporation  a  start  under 
national  laws.  This  power  should  properly  be  given  to  the  na- 
tion, as  it  is  only  from  a  national  viewpoint  that  the  commercial 
interests  of  this  diversified  country  can  be  properly  handled. 

Hamilton  Mayo,  President  Leominster  National  Bank,  Leo- 
minster,  Mass. 

1  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  as  suffi- 
cient to  deal  with  unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  It 
should  be  amended  so  as  to  make  it  clear  and  workable.  Rail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization  and  publicity 
should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations.  I  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now 
enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation 
to  common  carriers.  Disturbed  business  conditions,  in  my  judg- 
ment, are  in  part  attributable  to  doubt  and  uncertainty  as  to 
the  Sherman  Law. 


214 

Adolf  Pavenstedt,  First  Vice-President,  Havana  Central 
R;  R.  Company  and  Senior  Partner  of  G.  Amsinck  & 
Co.,  Bankers  and  Merchants,  New  York  City. 

I  favor  very  much  a  national  incorporation  law,  also  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  unscrupulous 
methods,  greed  and  graft  of  many  promoters,  financiers,  syn- 
dicates, corporation  directors.  The  country  is  sound,  the  people 
are  sound,  but  Wall  Street  is  not!  The  high  cost  of  living 
is,  surely,  largely  the  result  of  corporation  methods  and  of 
the  high  tariff.  Large  companies  and  large  industrial  enter- 
prises work  cheaper  than  small  ones,  but  only  when  they  com- 
pete with  one  another.  If  competition  stops,  the  "  cheaper 
working"  becomes  an  illusion  and  the  people  have  to  pay  a 
royalty  to  a  few  multimillionaires.  Monopolies  work  dear  be- 
cause fancy  salaries  are  paid,  incapable  relatives  or  friends  are 
placed  in  high-paid  positions;  energy  relaxes. 

R.  E.  Frey,  Cashier  Carthage  National  Bank,  Carthage,  Mo. 

Amend  the  Sherman  Law  to  allow  any  business  man  to 
know  what  it  means,  without  a  divided  opinion  by  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court.  In  my  judgment,  business  disturbance 
is  due  to  the  timidity  of  capital,  owing  to  pending  legislation. 
Without  large  capital  few  business  enterprises  would  be  started, 
and  corporations  should  have  a  fair  return  on  investment,  and 
a  degree  of  license  in  operation. 

I  favor  explicit  and  complete  laws  governing  all  classes  of 
corporations,  so  that  a  group  of  men  will  know  just  what  legis- 
lation to  expect  before  they  incorporate  and  will  not  be  subject 
to  persecution  after  winning — unless  some  law  has  been  violated. 
I  favor  national  incorporation.  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

D.  C.  Clark,  Weighmaster,  Central  Weight  and  Inspection 
Bureau,  Ellensburg,  Wash. 

The  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is  neither  clear  nor 
workable.  It  should  not  be  repealed,  however,  until  something 
better  is  provided.  Old  competitive  methods  would  be  better 
than  those  that  are  now  in  force.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to*  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  ask  for 
no  partiality,  but  simply  their  rights  under  the  law.  Combina- 
tions of  farmers,  to  secure  fair  prices  for  their  products,  should 
be  permitted. 

I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due 
to  the  effort  to  compel  big  interests  to  obey  the  law  just  as  the 
ordinary  individual  is  required  to  obey  it. 


215 

Robert  Ives  Gammell,  President  Providence  National  Bank 
and  Cotton  Manufacturer,  Providence,  R.  I. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable. 
[  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  what  are 
commonly  known  as  old  competitive  methods  in  business.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed  entirely.  It  should  be 
amended  so  that  it  will  be  practicable  and  not  a  constant  cause 
of  litigation.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

Should  trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 
Sherman  Act?  No,  certainly  not. 

Combinations  of  farmers  either  to  restrict  production  or  to 
hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices  should  not  be  rendered  lawful 
under  the  Sherman  Act.  I  do  not  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law.  Do  not  let  us  abandon  State  government  entirely. 
My  reply  is  the  same  to  a  Federal  license  law,  and  to  the  query 
regarding  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission — that  is  too  far- 
reaching.  Constant  agitation  by  Congress  and  too  much  Fed- 
eral control  are  among  the  causes  of  present  disturbed  business 
conditions. 

S.   B.   Lynd,   Cashier   Citizens   National  Bank,  Louisville, 
Ky. 

This  talk  about  our  having  gotten  away  from  the  age  of 
competition  is  absurd.  Competition  is  American  and  is  based, 
on  human  nature. 

Admitting  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  all  these  combined  do  not  compensate  for  the 
elimination  of  the  small  independent  merchant  or  manufacturer. 
I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  .companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Act  as  sufficient  to  deal 
with  the  exploitation  of  producers  and  consumers,  also  with 
unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization.  I  am  probably  in  favor  of  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  to  apply  publicity  to  commercial 
corporations,  but  not  to  regulate  prices. 

George  Woodruff,  Banker,  Lawyer  and  Editor,   President 
First  National  Bank,  Joliet,  111. 

I  favor  national  incorporation,  examination  and  frequent 
publication  of  financial  statements  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state commerce.  While  I  favor,  on  principle,  laws  to  prevent 
one  company  from  holding  stock  in  another  company,  neverthe- 
less I  believe  that  this  should  be  handled  with  caution,  as  much 
of  the  business  of  the  United  States  would  be  affected.  I  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  social  revolution  which 
is  taking  place  is  the  chief  cause  of  business  disturbance.  Doing 
business  on  a  large  scale  is  the  economic  tendency  of  the  world. 


21 G 

J.  Sloat  Fassett,  Banker,  Rancher  and  Lumberman,  Elmira, 
N.  Y. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  workable  possibly,  hut  by  no  means 
clear.  A  return  to  old  competitive  methods  is  feasible,  yes,  but 
would  be  utterly  destructive  of  success.  "  Do  you  favor  a  repeal 
of  the  Sherman  Law?"  Yes,  yes,  yes.  I  think  that  railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  Sherman  Act.  They  exercise 
more  restraint  on  trade  than  all  corporations  or  any  corpora- 
tion. Farmers  should  not  be  permitted  to  combine  to  restrict 
production,  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices.  That  would 
be  discrimination  utterly  unjustifiable.  Treat  all  alike  in  like 
situation.  The  causes  of  present  disturbed  business  conditions, 
in  my  judgment,  are:  (ft)  Improper  uses  of  great  corporate 
wealth  and  power;  (1))  agitation  and  legislation  on  political 
rather  than  economic  lines.  Too  much  emphasis  is  placed  upon 
methods  and  too  little  upon  morals.  The  Steel  Company  is 
prosecuted,  but  five  governors  can  meet  to  recommend  restraint 
of  cotton  trade  and  be  applauded.  The  attitude  of  the  ad- 
ministration for  nine  years  has  been  punitive  rather  than  cor- 
rective or  preventive.  I  believe  in  sane  and  honest  government 
regulation. 

W.    D.    Vincent,    Cashier,    Old    National    Bank,    Spokane, 
Wash. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business.  I  believe  in  holding  companies  under  laws  pro- 
viding for  the  fullest  publicity.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Regarding  price  control,  a  study  of  price  tables 
shows  that  prices  of  raw  materials  have  risen  remarkably  within 
the  last  few  years,  and  not  prices  of  so-called  "trust  products.'' 
The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale 
are  unquestionably  of  benefit  both  to  the  laborer  and  to  the 
consumer.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  Disturbed 
business  conditions  are  due  partly  to  natural  economic  causes ; 
also  to  short  crops ;  to  gradual  reaction  from  the  speculative 
period  preceding  1907;  to  general  personal  extravagance:  the 
high  cost  of  living,  and  party  politics. 

Julius  Wangenheim,  President  Bank  of  Commerce  &  Trust 
Company,  San  Diego,  Cal. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  good  in  spirit,  but  not  clear  in  prac- 
tice. It  should  be  amended  by  the  appointment  of  a  commission 
similar  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor  national 
incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. The  government  should  regulate  capitalization. 


William  Barret  Ridgely,  Banker  and  Manufacturer,  Wash- 
ington D.  C.  (Former  Comptroller  of  the  Currency). 

The  panic  of  1907  was  the  natural  culmination  of  a  long 
period  of  activity  and  the  resulting  overexpansion  of  credits 
all  over  the  world.  It  was  made  worse  in  the  United  State< 
by  our  imperfect  hanking  and  currency  systems.  The  depres- 
sion is  continued  and  intensified  by  social  and  political  unrest, 
mainly  natural  and  unavoidable  with  human  nature  constituted 
as  it  is;  but  made  much  worse  by  the  agitation  of  the  "muck- 
rakers  "  and  a  reformers  " — some  sincere,  and  many  not — who 
have  just  learned  of  evils  and  conditions  which  are  as  old  as 
civilization,  and  who  think  those  evils  arc  to  be  cured  at  once 
by  a  few  laws  of  their  own  invention,  instead  of  waiting  for 
the  results  of  time  and  experience1.  11  will  take  a  long  time 
and  many  trials,  but  things  will  gradually  grow  better  and  bet- 
ter, and  be  worked  out  fairly  in  the  end. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed,  but  modified, 
so  that  it  will  allow  large  corporations,  which  may  or  may  not 
be  combinations,  to  exist  and  do  business  under  Federal  regula- 
tion. I  favor  national  incorporation  ultimate^,  and  also  an 
interstate  Trade  Commission. 

W.   P.   Manley,  President   Security   National  Bank,   Sioux 
City,  Iowa. 

Perhaps  too  much  politics — perhaps  an  apparent  attempt  on 
the  part  of  "big  interests''  to  discredit  the  administration  for 
its  attempt  to  enforce  the  law  is  responsible  to  a  large  degree 
for  any  disturbance  that  exists.  The  Sherman  Law  should  not 
be  repealed  unless  a  'better  law  can  be  substituted.  I  favor 
national  incorporation  for  certain  classes  of  corporations,  State 
corporations  to  take  out  Federal  license.  The  holding  company 
is  responsible  for  most  of  our  troubles.  Abolish  it.  and  you 
have  largely  solved  the  problem.  I  am  in  favor  of  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  of  government  regulation  of  capitalization, 
and  of  laws  providing  for  publicity  applied  to  commercial  cor- 
porations. 

Chas.  H.  Warren,  Treasurer,  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany, New  York  City. 

Present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  overcxpan- 
sion  of  capacity  to  manufacture. — excess  legislation  passed  and 
pending,  directly  and  indirectly  restricting  the  use  of  capital, 
with  increased  costs  caused  by  the  lessened  efficiency  of  labor 
resulting  from  the  policy  and  attitude  of  the  representatives 
of  organized  labor. 

I  favor  a  Federal  license  law  for  interstate  business  exceed- 
ing in  the  aggregate  a  specified  amount — say.  $2.">;000,000  per 
annum.  The  Sherman  Law  should  bo  amended  by  defining 
"unreasonable"  restraint  of  trade. 


218 

Albert  Strauss,  Banker,  J.  &  W.  Seligman  &  Co.,  New  York 
City. 

A  few  more  decisions  will  make  the  Sherman  Law  clear — 
notably  the  United  States  Steel  case.  The  Sherman  Law  cannot 
be  intelligently  amended  until  the  courts  have  completed  the 
process  of  interpreting  it.  Even  then  there  is  no  use  in  attempt- 
ing to  remedy  evils,  until  we  have  denned  them  with  sufficient 
clearness  to  know  what  we  are  trying  to  accomplish.  If  there 
is  any  statement  denning  the  evils  talked  about,  with  sufficient 
clearness  to  form  a  basis  for  legislation,  I  have  not  seen  it.  I 
favor  a  permissory  national  incorporation  law,  and  I  believe 
that  the  railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

I  attribute  disturbed  business  conditions  to  the  impression, 
fostered  by  politicians  because  it  is  believed  to  be  popular,  that 
the  Sherman  Law  outlaws  most  of  our  successful  business  enter- 
prises. This  impression  will  be  gradually  dispelled,  as  successive 
judgments  of  the  Supreme  Court  correct  the  assertions  of  po- 
litical orators. 

Geo.    W.    McCabe,    President,    Lake    View    State    Bank, 
Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  practical,  protecting  hon- 
est corporations  and  putting  out  of  business  dishonest  corpora- 
tions. Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  for  interstate  corporations;  also  a  Federal  license 
law,  but  not  for  local  State  corporations.  I  also  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

The  chief  cause  of  disturbed  business  conditions  is  the  un- 
certain application  of  law  as  to  future  commercial  and  monetary 
affairs.  We  need  constructive  legislation,  with  a  "  square  deal " 
for  all  business  institutions — no  more  watered  stocks. 

Clarence  H.   Kelsey,  President  Title   Guarantee  &   Trust 
Company,  New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  specify  as  nearly 
as  -possible  where  reasonable  restraint  ends  and  unreasonable 
begins.  Present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  various 
causes — greed  and  overreaching — in  consequence,  over-expan- 
sion and  succeeding  disaster — followed,  after  the  panic  of  1907, 
by  great  resentment  on  the  part  of  the  unfortunate  at  the  con- 
sequences, and  a  desire  to  correct  bad  law  defects  (widespread) 
in  character  and  conduct,  with  the  result  that  legislatures  and 
courts  are  influenced,  to  do  things  that  upset  honest  business 
and  dishonest  business  alike.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law,  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 


219 

R.  W.  Hosmer,  R.  W.  Hosmer  &  Co.,  Insurance  Agents, 
Chicago,  111. 

I  think  that  business  disturbance  arises  from  the  prosecu- 
tions by  the  government  of  large  concerns  which  have  been  doing 
business  for  a  long  time  unlawfully,  and  also  from  the  pend- 
ing revision  of  the  tariff,  which  is  liable  to  be  overdone.  The 
Sherman  Law  will  be  clear  and  workable  after  a  decision  from 
the  Supreme  Court  in  the  United  States  Steel  suit  now  pend- 
ing. It  is  hardly  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods, 
though  it  would  be  better  for  the  nation  if  we  could,  as  it  would 
make  a  more  contented  people  and  not  concentrate  the  profits 
in  a  few  hands.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  only 
to  make  it  more  plain.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  A  national  incorporation  law  is  desirable 
if  the  Sherman  Law  is  not  made  plain  and  strictly  enforced. 
If  the  Sherman  Law  is  made  plain  and  properly  enforced,  then 
we  do  not  need  a  national  incorporation  law. 

F.  E.  Harwi,  Vice-President  Exchange  State  Bank  and 
President  The  A.  J.  Harwi  Hardware  Company, 
Atchison,  Kan. 

Briefly,  I  attribute  present  disturbed  conditions  that  apply 
to  the  trade  in  this  vicinity  to  the  following  reasons:  (1)  Par- 
tial crop  failure;  (2)  prospect  of  parcels  post  legislation,  un- 
favorable to  mercantile  interests,  particularly  in  small  towns; 
(3)  freight  rate  agitation,  introduced  by  interior  jobbers  west 
of  Missouri  Eiver  for  concessions  that  would  wipe  out  the  Mis- 
souri River  as  a  basing  point  for  freight  rates;  (4)  govern- 
ment action  against  large  industrial  corporations. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  either  be  repealed,  or  worked  over  into  an  industrial 
act  that  would  clearly  define  the  limits  and  privileges  of  cor- 
porations. 

F.  E.  Lyford,  President  First  National  Bank,  Waverly, 
N.  Y. 

Following  the  disturbance  in  1907,  caused  by  lack  of  con- 
fidence in  everything  and  everybody,  and  the  regulations  and 
restrictions  that  have  come,  whereby  those  who  can  do  large 
things  hesitate,  not  knowing  what  other  restrictions  may  come, 
all  other  business  has  been  affected  by  that  same  feeling  of 
hesitation  and  uncertainty.  Too  much  regulation  will  cause 
stagnation  anywhere.  I  favor  Federal  license  and  that  legisla- 
tion should  be  enacted  requiring  full  publicity  of  the  affairs 
of  corporations  and  combinations.  I  believe  in  holding  com- 
panies, with  full  publicity.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  re- 
pealed or  amended  to  fit  present  business  conditions. 


220 

C.  A.  Brown,  President,  Marfa  National  Bank,  Marfa, 
Texas;  President,  First  National  Bank,  Alpine, 
Texas;  Vice-President,  First  National  Bank,  Ft. 
Stockton,  Texas;  Vice-President,  Marathon  State 
Bank,  Marathon,  Texas. 

A  growing  desire  among  all  classes  to  get  something  for 
nothing  and  craze  for  speculation  and  lack  of  proper  apprecia- 
tion and  respect  for  the  rights  of  others,  in  other  words,  a 
growing  dishonesty  and  the  lack  of  industry  and  frugality,  are 
substantially  the  causes  of  much  business  uneasiness.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  more  definitely  exempt 
from  its  operations  combinations  of  capital  for  the  successful 
furtherance  of  trade  and  development  of  the  resources  of  our 
country  giving  us  the  markets  of  the  entire  world.  Also  to 
define  very  clearly  combinations  and  agreements  between  all 
classes  of  producers,  manufacturers,  laborers  and  others  cal- 
culated to  interfere  with  and  restrict  natural  results.  The  pen- 
alites  for  violating  the  provisions  thus  indicated  should  be  made 
severe  and  for  flagrant  cases  imprisonment  should  be  added. 
Every  farmer,  and  everybody  else,  should  be  permitted  to  plant 
as  much  or  as  little  of  any  crop  as  he  pleases  and  hold  it  as 
long  as  he  likes  and  can.  In  fact,  he  should  do  as  lie  pleases, 
as  long  as  he  does  not  wrong  his  neighbor,  and  if  he  does  not 
do  as  he  pleases  he  should  bo  made  to  do  as  he  pleases ;  but  he 
should  not  be  permitted  to  enter  into  agreements  with  others 
calculated  to  bring  about  unnatural  results  to  the  injury  of  the 
public. 

Edward  H.  Mason,  President  The  National  Bank  of  Bruns- 
wick, Brunswick,  Ga. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  understand- 
able. The  "trust-busting"  business  should  cease  and  punish- 
ment of  guilty  officers  should  begin.  Let  the  innocent  stock- 
holder alone  and  punish  the  officer,  or  officers,  \vho  violate  the 
law.  Too  many  politicians  looking  for  office  and  catering  to  the 
ignorant  and  vicious  classes,  reckless  of  the  injury  that  they  do 
to  the  established  industries  of  the  country  and  to  the  millions 
of  worthy  workers  and  their  families  who  depend  on  those  indus- 
tries for  support  are  chiefly  responsible  for  disturbing  business. 

O.  G.  Alexander,  Cashier  First  National  Bank,  Corona, 
N.  Y. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable  and  should  be 
modified  to  meet  the  actual  conditions  of  business.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and 
combinations  of  farmers  should  be  lawful.  1  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 


221 

Robert  H.  Montgomery,  Certified  Public  Accountant,  New 
York. 

The  business  and  financial  men  of  the  country  are  largely 
to  blame  for  present  unsettled  conditions,  because  they  are  leav- 
ing a  de  facto  control  of  business  to  lawyers,  whose  training  un- 
fits them  for  practical  and  constructive  legislation  or  super- 
vision. For  instance,  Attorney  General  Wickersham  wrote  the 
present  Federal  Corporation  Tax  Law.  It  was  so  entirely  un- 
workable from  a  practical  standpoint  that  the  Treasury  Depart- 
ment is  making  no  effort  to  enforce  it ;  it  has,  however,  issued 
regulations  which  are  workable,  but  which  do  not  accord  with 
the  provisions  of  the  law,  nor  with  the  Attorney  General's  in- 
terpretation of  the  law.  Furthermore,  the  law  arbitrarily  re- 
quires all  corporations  to  close  their  books  at  31st  December 
of  each  year,  and  thus  have  imposed  on  the  corporations  mil- 
lions of  dollars  of  extra  and  unnecessary  expense,  whereas,  the 
government's  purpose  would  have  been  just  as  well  served  by 
requiring  reports  of  the  corporations'  fiscal  years.  But  the  law 
was  written  l}y  a  lawyer  and  suggestions  relative  thereto  by  prac- 
tical business  men  were  unheeded. 

William  A.  Paine,  Banker,  President  Copper  Range  Con- 
solidated Company,  Boston,  Mass. 

Whatever  may  have  caused  disturbed  business  conditions, 
their  continuance  is  due  entirely  to  causes  which  intelligent, 
comprehensive  and  early  Federal  legislation  could  and  would 
cure.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Railroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  we 
should  have  an  Interstate  Trade 'Commission,  with  powers  not 
unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

Railroads  and  industrial  corporations  should  be  permitted 
by  law  to  associate  for  the  purpose  of  regulating  rates,  produc- 
tive prices,  etc.  Under  the  present  cost  of  living,  wages  cannot 
be  reduced  and  should  be  increased,  but  fair  profits  must  be 
allowed  employers.  Destructive  competition  must  be  abolished. 

W.    H.    Bucholz,    Vice-President    Omaha    National    Bank, 
Omaha,  Neb. 

Political  agitation,  too  much  attempted  regulation,  uncer- 
tain policies,  misunderstood  laws  and  the  reaction  following  an 
era  of  prosperity  and  of  thoughtless  extravagance  have  brought 
about  the"  present  disturbance  in  business.  I  favor  a  repeal  of 
the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment  of  a  new  law,  permitting 
large  business  enterprises  along  clearly  defined  channels — a 
help  to  business  rather  than  an  interference.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission, but  not  to  be  hampered  by  too  much  red  tape. 


222 

A.  R.  Shattuck,  Manager  of  the  British  and  American  Mort- 
gage Company,  New  York. 

There  is  one  phase  of  the  decree  of  the  Supreme  Court  dis- 
solving the  American  Tobacco  Company  and  the  Standard  Oil 
Company — instead  of  one  corporation  which  may  have  per- 
petrated iniquities  we  have  a  number  of  corporations,  and  the 
price  of  oil  and  tobacco  will  undoubtedly  be  raised  to  the  con- 
sumer. If  the  government  succeeds  in  dissolving  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation  the  price  of  steel  will  undoubtedly 
be  raised.  Who  therefore  will  be  benefited  ?  Not  the  consumer, 
who  comprises  the  largest  proportion  of  citizens  in  the  country. 
It  will  be  perhaps  the  producer,  who  may  get  a  little  more 
for  his  raw  products,  and  the  small  competitor.  We  are  there- 
fore not  legislating  or  litigating  for  the  good  of  the  largest 
number,  but  to  give  preference  or  advantage  to  a  few.  The 
whole  question  of  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be 
settled  in  a  clear-cut  way.  If  it  is  desired  that  this  country 
Shall  make  progress  rapidly,  that  progress  must  be  financed  by 
great  corporations  and  by  rich  men.  If  it  is  desired  that  this 
country  shall  advance  slowly  it  can  do  so  by  rendering  it  un- 
desirable for  great  corporations  and  for  rich  men  to  invest  their 
money  in  new  enterprises  which  go  towards  advancing  it.  Cer- 
tainly under  existing  laws  there  is  no  inducement  for  the  great 
corporations  to  extend  their  business,  or  for  rich  men  to  invest 
their  money  in  new  enterprises. 

L.  M.  Newman,  Cashier,  First  National  Bank,  Chippewa 
Falls,  Wis. 

Prosecutions  under  Sherman  Law,  and  incidental  unrest, 
politics  in  approaching  Presidential  campaign,  tariff  talk,  cur- 
rency talk  and  generally  too  much  talk  and  agitation,  account 
for  such  business  disturbance  as  exists.  I  think  decisions  in 
Standard  Oil,  Tobacco  and  Steel  cases,  and  methods  adopted  to 
conform  to  the  decisions  will  speedily  (in  fact  have  already, 
to  some  extent)  clarify  the  situation  and  show  the  intrinsic 
value  of  the  Sherman  Law,  which  I  believe  to  be  very  great. 
Let  us  give  this  law  sufficient  time  to  observe  its  results  under 
the  interpretations  from  time  to  time  rendered  by  the  Courts, 
before 'we  tinker  with  it  at  all.  The  tinkering  period  will  only 
serve  to  demoralize  business  as  long  as  it  lasts. 

W.  J.   Echols,  President  The   Merchants   National  Bank, 
Fort  Smith,  Ark. 

I  believe  in  the  value  to  our  country  of  a  clear  aud  lucid 
law  regulating  combinations,  trusts,  etc.,  and  I  see  no  sufficient 
reason  for  exempting  railroads,  labor  unions  or  farmers'  unions. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  or  amended  in  such  a 
way  that  the  law  may  be  lucid  and  clear,  and  that  it  may  not 
be  necessary  to  refer  each  case  to  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court. 


223 

Ferdinand  Hermann,  Speyer  &  Co.,  Bankers,  New  York. 

i  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable. 
1  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  what  are  commonly  known  as 
old  competitive  methods,  with  suitable  restrictions.  I  favor  a 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  unless  it  is  made  clearer  by  amend- 
ments. It  ought  to  allow  more  latitude  to  those  corporations 
which  do  not  follow  aggressive  monopolistic  tendencies.  Rail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 
Any  combination  of  farmers  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold 
a  crop  for  higher  prices  is  detrimental  to  the  general  welfare 
and  ought  to  be  prohibited  or  attacked.  I  am  opposed  to  a 
national  incorporation  law,  as  this  ought  to  apply  to  the  States 
only.  As  to  the  Federal  license  law,  my  view  would  depend  on 
which  form  such  a  law  would  take.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  in  principle,  but  with  powers  carefully  drawn,  not 
obstructive,  and  composed  of  persons  fully  capable  of  under- 
standing the  needs  of  business  and  the  scope  of  their  duties. 

In  my  judgment  the  causes  of  business  disturbance  are  gen- 
erally apprehension  of  too  much  government  activity  in  enforc- 
ing the  Sherman  Law,  also  uncertainty  of  the  tariff  outlook, 
all  of  which  tend  to  make  business  men  careful  and  prompt 
them  to  restrict  the  scope  of  their  enterprises.  I  am  in  favor 
of  the  German  policy  toward  corporations  and  "cartels,"  but 
not  to  the  extent  that  prices  are  raised  artificially  within  the 
country  and  shaded  outside.  This  can  be  partially  remedied 
by  a  suitable  tariff  reduction. 

A.  E.  Lang,  President,  Street  Railway  Company,  Toledo, 
Ohio. 

I  am  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  not  feasible  to  return 
to  what  are  commonly  known  as  the  old  competitive  methods 
of  business.  At  the  same  time  I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law.  It  is  to  the  advantage  of  the  country  that  rail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  Trade  unions  and  the  farmers  should  stand 
in  the  same  position  as  other  citizens  toward  the  law  of  the 
land. 

J.  B.  Patterson,  President,  Detroit  &  Western  R.  R.,  Detroit, 
Mich. 

The  causes  of  business  disturbance  are  various.  Among 
them  is  the  aggressiveness  of  Socialism,  the  demand  for  the 
referendum  and  recall,  with  the  possible  effects  of  those  meth- 
ods of  political  action  upon  the  stability  of  property  and  busi- 
ng interests.  Investors  are  naturally  distrustful  under  these 
conditions  as  to  risking  their  money  in  property  that  may  be 
unfavorably  affected  by  legislation  tending  toward  confiscation. 


224 

James  C.   Fargo,  President,  The  American  Express  Com- 
pany, New  York. 

Politics  is  the  cause  oil  disturbed  business  condition!?.  I  do 
not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  while  I  do  not  con- 
sider that  it  has  heen  made  clear  and  workable.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  amended,,  first,,  so  as  to  make  it  intelligible, 
and,  second,  not  only  that  "the  concentration  of  capital  essen- 
tial in  the  full  and  efficient  development  of  modern  business  " 
be  made  legitimate,  but  when  so  used  must  not  be  left  subject 
to  confiscation.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. Trade  unions  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  not 
be  excepted  from  the  Sherman  Law.  I  would  favor  an  Inter- 
>tatc  Trade  Commission,  if  it  is  to  do  away  with  all  other  Fed- 
eral or  State  commissions,  and  be  given  absolute  and  exclusive 
control  over  all  common  carriers,  whether  engaged  in  the  inter 
or  intra-state  business. 

Charles    McCulloch,    President    Hamilton    National    Bank, 
Fort  Wayne,  Ind. 

The  attacks  upon  certain  corporations  are  producing  present 
disturbed  conditions.  These  corporations  should  have  been  pre- 
vented years  ago  from  pursuing  the  course  that  has  brought 
about  the  present  prosecutions.  The  low  price  of  iron  to-day 
is  caused  by  the  attack  on  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation. 
The  financial  power  of  this  corporation,  as  with  the  Tobacco 
Trust,  can  control  prices.  The  Tobacco  Trust  regulated  the 
price  of  tobacco  in  the  field  or  in  the  hands  of  the  farmer. 
Not  satisfied  with  this  and  with  the  profits  of  manufacture, 
they  want  to  control  the  local  trade  and  profits.  I  consider  it 
feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  amended  only  so  far  as  to  make  it  intelligible 
to  all  parties.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Bernard  Rogers,   Klee,   Rogers   &   Co.,   Insurance   Agency, 
Chicago,  111. 

Artificial  inflation  of  price<  on  the  New  York  Stock  Ex- 
change, smaller  crops,  but  chiefly  the  tariff,  are  causes  of  busi- 
ness disturbance.  The  people  \vere  humbugged  by  a  higher 
tariff  when  a  lower  was  promised,  and  every  one  knows  it  has 
to  be  changed.  People  only  buy  imports  for  immediate  needs 
on  a  falling  tariff.  We  ought  to  have  a  ne\v  law  making  the 
president's  term  six  years,  \vith  only  one  term.  Old  competi- 
tive methods  are  impossible.  It  is  a  question  whether  the 
recent  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  reading  into  the  Sher- 
man Law  "reason"  or  "  reasonable"  has  not  weakened  it.  The 
criminal  clause  for  officials  and  corporations  should  be  very 
plain.  We  should  have  a  national  incorporation  law — sooner 
the  better — along  with  piiblieit%y. 


225 

Stuart  Wilson,  Cashier,  State  National  Bank,  Texarkana, 
Ark. 

The  present  administration,  by  its  uncertain  and  destructive 
policies;  notoriety-seeking,  petty  State  politicians;  the  attitude 
of  lawmakers  toward  railroads  and  corporations — these,  in  my 
judgment,  all  contribute  to  present  disturbed  conditions. 

I  strongly  favor  laws  which  will  permit  industrial  and  other 
corporations  to  grow  in  strength  and  volume  of  business;  but 
I  believe  they  should  be  under  government  supervision  when 
doing  an  interstate  or  international  business.  I  prefer  Federal 
license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  be- 
lieve in  holding  companies,  under  proper  restrictions.  The 
government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should 
be  applied  to  commercial  corporations.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
either  be  repealed  or  made  so  that  the  average  business  man 
can  understand  it.  It  now  appears  that  the  best  lawyers  cannot 
agree  upon  an  interpretation.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  not 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Law,  and  com- 
binations of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a 
crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  permitted.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.  T.  Hamilton,  President  The  Merchants  National  Bank, 
Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  strengthened  by  amendments  to 
make  the  control  of  large  corporations  more  readily  within  the 
reach  of  public  authority.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  Trade  unions  should  be  made  to  obey  the 
law  equally  with  all  others.  Farmers  are  so  numerous  and 
widely  separated,  with  such  small  individual  holdings,  that  they 
cannot  form  a  formidable  combination.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  Federal  license,  with  proper  limitations.  I  do 
not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Strengthen  the 
Commerce  Commission.  I  do  not  favor  a  multiplicity  of  com- 
missions. Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  labor 
situation,  navigation  laws,  tariff  and  long  delays  of  our  courts 
in  hearing  and  deciding  cases. 

William    Carson,    Banker    and    Manufacturer,    Burlington, 
Iowa. 

Overproduction  and  the  difficulties  of  adjusting  business  to 
present  laws  and  conditions  are  the  causes  of  such  uncertainty 
as  now  exists  in  business  affairs.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
not  be  repealed,  unless  something  better  can  be  discovered.  Eail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
I  do  not  favor  either  national  incorporation  or  Federal  license 
for  companies  doing  interstate  commerce.  I  am  not  in  favor  of 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


226 

W.  Ring,  Mailler  &  Quereau,  Australian  and  New  Zealand 
Shipping  Merchants,  New  York  City. 

If  our  government  officials,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest, 
would  devote  their  time  and  energies  to  the  duties  of  their  posi- 
tions, and  not  attempt  to  curry  favor  and  placate  the  so-called 
voting  interest  by  radical  appeals,  intemperate  denunciations 
and  impossible  and  unworkable  theories  and  give  us  a  rest, 
better  times  would  soon  appear.  Present  business  disturbance 
is  caused  by  the  recent  action  of  the  government  against  cor- 
porations and  individuals  engaged  in  business;  constant  threats 
by  officials  and  the  uncertainty  of  what  is  legal  or  illegal  in 
the  ordinary  conduct  of  trade  and  business. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable,  but  it  is  being 
worked  into  intelligible  shape  by  our  courts  and  public  officials. 
I  am  not  in  favor  of  a  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  Com- 
petition often  means  the  "  death  of  trade "  and,  in  the  end, 
leads  to  absolute  monopoly  by  the  death  of  competitors.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  meet  present  and  future 
conditions  of  business,  permitting  co-operation  in  trade  and  busi- 
ness, and  not  only  competition.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 

Charles  Fall,  President  Hoboken  Trust  Company,  Hoboken, 
N.J. 

Cannot  corporations  be  compelled  to  apply  their  earnings, 
before  paying  any  dividends,  to  reduce  the  amount  of  overcapi- 
talization, by  purchasing  their  stock  or  otherwise,  until  the 
amount  of  capitalization  is  equal  to  the  value  of  the  property, 
etc.? 

The  Sherman  Act  should  enumerate  unlawful  acts  with 
clearness  and  should  make  officers  and  individuals  in  control 
responsible  and  punishable  by  jail  sentences.  Railroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor 
either  a  national  incorporation  law  or  Federal  license,  or  both. 
I  also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  present 
business  disturbance  is  owing  to  artificial  interference  with  the 
fundamental  laws  of  economics,  i.  e.f  holding  up  prices  when 
business  is  on  the  decline. 

John    M.    Wever,    President    Merchants    National    Bank, 
Plattsburg,  N.  Y. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  to  national  incorporation  for  com- 
panies doing  interstate  commerce.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to 
be  repealed.  Interstate  railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  I  do  not  approve  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion; let  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  have  jurisdic- 
tion. The  Sherman  Law,  and  particularly  the  manner  of  execut- 
ing it,  has  been  the  chief  cause  of  existing  .business  disturbance. 


227 

H.  K.  Twitchell,  Vice  President  Chemical  National  Bank, 
New  York. 

Underlying  conditions  have  never  been  better.  Business  is 
being  held  back  simply  because  industries  cannot  look  forward 
to  the  future  with  any  confidence.  Money  and  the  productions 
in  every  field  are  sensitive  to  prospective  changes.  If  corpora- 
tions and  farmers  could  know  what  the  attitude  of  the  govern- 
ment was  going  to  be  for  five  years  as  regards  tariff,  regula- 
tion of  corporations  and  general  governmental  policy,  business 
would  revive  immediately.  If  the  tariff  changes  could  be  based 
upon  advice  of  a  Tariff  Commission,,  and  if  the  proposed  changes 
in  the  financial  system  could  be  outlined  by  men  having  no 
direct  or  indirect  connection  with  large  centers  of  wealth,  rapid 
progress  would  be  made.  A  law  must  be  enacted  which  will 
permit  of  the  control  of  corporations,  but  under  which  they  will 
know  exactly  what  they  can  do  and  what  they  cannot  do.  Large 
combinations  of  wealth  are  a  natural  part  of  our  present  indus- 
trial system  and  must  be  regulated,  but  not  broken  up. 

The  present  tendency  toward  concentration  of  capital  for- 
bids the  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  I  favor  a  repeal 
of  the  Sherman  Law,  because  it  is  my  opinion  it  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  amend  the  present  law  to  fit  modern  conditions. 

W.  F.  Paxton,  President  Citizens  Savings  Bank,  Paducah, 
Ky. 

The  continued  disposition  of  the  government  to  dissolve  cer- 
tain corporations,  instead  of  making  such  amendments  to  the 
law  as  would  specifically  restrict  abuses  and  define  them  so 
clearly  that  speedy  termination  of  abuses  would  be  possible,  is, 
in  my  judgment,  the  chief  cause  of  business  disturbance. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  quite  clear  and  workable.  It  should 
be  amended  and  made  practical.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 
I  believe  in  holding  companies;  it  is  to  the  advantage  of  the 
public  in  many  cases  for  one  corporation  to  hold  stock  in  an- 
other. 

Omar  H.  Wright,  President  Second  National  Bank,  Bel- 
videre,  111. 

Too  much  "  red-eyed  legislation  is  the  chief  cause  of  our 
business  troubles.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed. 
We  should  have  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

I  favor  some  kind  of  Federal  control  which,  at  the  same 
time,  will  eliminate  the  hazardous  State  legislation  so  often  at 
variance  with  national  law  and  so  widely  different  in  the  differ- 
ent States. 


228 

Walter  G.  Oakman,  President  of  Hudson  Companies,  etc., 
etc.,  New  York  City. 

The  suggestion  of  the  establishment  of  a  commission  akin 
to  the  Eailroad  Commission  to  supervise  all  commercial  enter- 
prises is  most  unfortunate,  in  my  judgment.  It  would  mean  an 
immense  organization  to  be  effective,  and  it  would  be  impossible 
to  meet  constantly  changing  conditions  under  such  control.  Kail- 
roads  sell  one  commodity  and  delays  in  decision  regarding  their 
charges  are  not  necessarily  important.  In  commerce  quick 
action  is  sometimes  vital.  As  to  the  causes  of  any  business 
disturbance  which  exists,  it  is  a  period  of  evolution  and  chang- 
ing conditions  which  induce  hesitation  and  prudence  and  which 
will  gradually  improve. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear,  but  perhaps  workable,  fail- 
ing other  legislation.  Unlimited  competition  would  result  in 
survival  of  the  strongest  and  a  recurrence  of  conditions  now 
deemed  requiring  regulation.  The  country  would  not  accept 
a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  unless  substituted  by  other  legisla- 
tion. Perhaps  the  best  solution  would  be  a  control  of  the 
amount  of  the  total  of  any  industry  by  any  one  corporation. 
A  general  control  -of  business  by  a  commission,  covering  the 
details  of  each  activity,  would  be  impossible  and  destructive. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission.  Such  agreements  are  useful  and  can 
do  no  harm  when  subject  to  approval.  As  to  trade  unions  and 
the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  trade  unions  are  the  most 
arbitrary  combinations  now  existing  and  should  be  under  super- 
vision of  authority.  Combinations  of  farmers  are  too  difficult 
to  organize  to  merit  present  attention. 

Wm.  C.  Demorest,  President,  Realty  Trust,  New  York  City. 

In  my  opinion,  the  present  business  conditions  would  be 
vastly  improved  by  calm,  dispassionate  attempts  to  adapt  our 
entire  social  fabric  to  the  changed  conditions  which  have  arisen 
by  reason  of  numerous  corporate  co-operative  developments  dur- 
ing the  last  twenty  years.  A  campaign  of  education  should  be 
carried  on  by  business  interests,  similar  to  that  waged  during 
the  "  silver  craze,"  to  convince  people  that  huge  corporations 
are  not  necessarily  to  their  disadvantage,  but,  subject  to  reason- 
able control,  are  for  the  best  interests  of  the  people  and  have 
inevitably  come  to  stay. 

W.  E.  Lowe,  Johnson  &  Higgins,  Insurance,  New  York 
City. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  it  will  be 
applicable  to  present  conditions  and  intelligible  to  the  average 
layman.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
L  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


229 

S.  Z.  Mitchell,  Securities,  New  York. 

Make  the  Sherman  Law  clear  beyond  any  question,  so  that 
even  the  most  ordinary  layman  shall  know  what  it  means  beyond 
any  doubt.  I  think  the  monopoly  and  non-competition  features 
should  absolutely  not  apply  to  public  service  corporations  of  any 
kind.  The  latter  should  be  regulated  and  controlled  by  State 
or  Federal  commissions.  The  object  of  regulation  and  control 
is  to  prevent  discrimination.  Competition  means  discrimina- 
tion. To  prevent  any  kind  of  large  public  service  corporation 
from  discrimination  in  rates  when  it  is  attacked  by  a  "  strike 
company"  for  blackmailing  purposes  in  a  small,  congested  or 
highly  productive  piece  of  the  territory  served  is  like  binding 
a  man  hand  and  foot,  and  thus  preventing  him  from  defending 
himself  when  he  is  attacked  by  a  blackmailer  who  wants  to  steal 
his  watch  or  pocketbook.  Eegulation  and  competition  at  the 
same  time  is  not  only  unfair,  but  wholly  illogical. 

D.  L.  Evans,  J.  N.  Ireland  &  Co.,  Bankers,  Malad  City, 
Idaho. 

We  can't  get  back  to  "  small  things,"  and  we  should  compel 
"big  things"  to  deal  honestly  and  be  satisfied  with  the  in- 
creased profits  arising  from  the  economies  of  combination.  "  Wa- 
ter "  must  be  kept  out  of  business.  The  inability  of  borrowers 
to  meet  their  obligations  and  the  spending  beyond  their  capacity 
to  produce  are  the  chief  causes  of  any  business  embarrassment. 
I  favor  national  incorporation  for  interstate  companies;  Fed- 
eral license  fo'r  persons  engaged  in  interstate  commerce,  and  I 
also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  to  give  government  supervision  over  monopo- 
lies. "  Should  trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of 
the  Sherman  Act  ?  "  Yes,  to  give  the  poor  man  the  benefit  of 
a  doubt.  "  Should  combinations  of  farmers  be  treated  as  law- 
ful ?  "  Yes,  for  the  same  reason. 

Morris  Sternbach,  Morris  Sternbach  &  Co.,  Member  New 
York  Stock  Exchange,  New  York  City. 

In  my  humble  opinion  we  need  a  plain,  common-sense  law  to 
fit  the  requirements  of  the  present  conditions — one  which  every 
business  man  can  understand  and  carry  out,  instead  of  being 
obliged  to  consult  a  lawyer  to  ascertain  whether  he  is  acting 
legally  or  otherwise.  I  favor  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law 
and  the  enactment  of  an  entirely  new  law  to  conform  with 
present  needs.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  and  farmers  should  be  permitted  to  com- 
bine. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  Federal  license. 
I  would  prefer  that  the  powers  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission should  be  enlarged,  instead  of  creating  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 


230 

C.  Burtis  Hunter,  Brooklyn  Rapid  Transit  System,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  several  causes: 
(a.)  Provisions  of  the  Sherman  Law  not  made  clear  and  work- 
able; (6)  President  Taft's  betrayal  of  the  people  to  whom  he 
pledged  a  "  downward  revision  "  of  the  tariff — consequently,  dis- 
trust of  his  administration;  (c)  ascendancy  of  Democracy,,  caus- 
ing fear  and  unrest  in  the  camp  of  the  high  protectionists;  (d) 
protests  of  common  people  against  greed  of  trusts. 

Suggestions :  Where  trusts  or  combinations  "  cut  prices " 
in  one  section  of  the  country  to  crush  less  powerful  competitors, 
the  low-level  prices  the  trusts  establish  there  should  be  made 
effective  in  any  and  all  parts  of  the  country  they  serve ;  in  other 
words,  a  universal  "  cut  price/'  which  renders  competition  fair 
and  "  on  the  level/5  which,  in  turn,  will  invigorate  trade  and 
afford  a  general  reduction  or  "  leveling  "  of  costs  to  the  con- 
sumer. Federal  (or  national)  incorporation  laws  could  compel 
this  universal  cut  price.  I  also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

Wherever  possible,  the  elimination  of  the  middleman  and  the 
selling  of  commodities  direct  from  producer  to  consumer,  sav- 
ing the  former's  exorbitant  profits  to  the  consumer.  This  would 
drive  the  middleman  out  of  his  present  field  of  economic  use- 
lessness  and  compel  him  to  become  of  some  economic  value  to 
the  community,  namely,  a  producer. 

The  encouragement  of  the  "  back-to-the-f arm  movement/' 
which  makes  producers  out  of  consumers;  thus  increasing  the 
productivity  of  the  land,  thereby  levelling  price's  according  to 
immutable  laws  of  supply  and  demand. 

W.  J.  Humphrey,  Wyoming  County  National  Bank,  War- 
saw, N.  Y. 

Overproduction;  extravagance,  both  governmental  and  indi- 
vidual; changed  economic  and  social  conditions  because  of  new 
inventions  and  their  application;  uncertainty  and  disagreement 
as  to  how  best  to  conform  to  these  changed  conditions — all  con- 
tribute to  unsettled  business  relations  and  to  make  men  uncer- 
tain as  to  the  future.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates.  I  also  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  en- 
gaged in  interstate  commerce. 

J.  Montgomery  Hare,  Fire  Underwriter,  New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable. 
I  favor  its  repeal  and  the  enactment  of  laws  forbidding  specified 
practices.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law  for  corporations 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  Disturbed  business  conditions 
are  due  to  agitation  of  the  popular  mind  by  those  having  selfish 
ends  to  attain. 


231 

D.  J.  F.  Strother,  Attorney-at-Law  and  President  of  First 
National  Bank,  Welch,  W.  Va. 

Extravagance,  political  agitation  and  a  poor  banking  system 
are  responsible  for  disturbed  business  conditions.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  repealed,  but  if  amended  it  should  be  made 
declaratory  of  the  common  law  and  should  give  the  Federal 
courts  power  to  enforce  it.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  neither  national  incor- 
poration nor  Federal  license;  each  tends  to  give  the  general 
government  too  much  power  and  control  over  private  business. 
The  individual  State  should  protect  its  people  from  harmful 
corporate  action  on  the  part  of  domestic  as  well  as  non-resident 
and  foreign  corporations,  by  laws  regulating  the  conditions  under 
which  they  can  engage  in  business,  as  well  as  organization  and 
conduct  of  the  corporation.  I  don't  approve  of  this  government 
being  conducted  by  commissions.  It  is  removing  it  from  a 
republican  form  and  departs  radically  from  the  constitutional 
intent. 

The  trend  of  public  sentiment,  induced  in  large  part  by 
demagogic  politicians  and  writers,  is  towards  democracy  and 
socialism,  and  is  a  very  present  danger.  The  many  investigat- 
ing committees  and  commissions,  which  propose  innumerable 
laws  to  regulate  everything  in  detail,  are  doing  much  to  foster 
this  sentiment  and  destroy  the  faith  of  the  people  in  our  insti- 
tutions. 

J.   K.  Beretta,  President   Laredo  National  Bank,  Laredo, 
Tex. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if  consolidation  and 
trust  conditions  continue;  otherwise  I  don't.  The  advantages 
claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  exist;  but  they 
are  offset  by  strangled  competition.  I  favor  Federal  license,  and 
am  opposed  to  holding  companies.  The  government  should 
regulate  capitalization.  I  favor  the  examination  and  regulation 
of  all  corporations  on  the  same  principle  that  banks  are  regu- 
lated and  examined,  this  for  the  protection  of  the  public  and 
minority  stockholders.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed. 
Trusts  and  an  inelastic  currency  are  the  causes  of  business  dis- 
turbance. 

M.    W.    Mattecheck,    Gogebic    National   Bank,    Ironwood, 
Mich. 

Pernicious  political  activity  and  too  many  suits  against  cor- 
porations, accomplishing  nothing  in  particular  toward  solving 
the  business  situation,  are  the  leading  causes  of  business  dis- 
turbance. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  Eailroada 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
decidedly  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


232 

Homer  W.  Johnson  (Johnson  Bros.  Land  Company),  Sioux 
City,  Iowa. 

Too  much  "  water "  in  the  liabilities  of  all  public  service 
corporations,  on  which  interest  must  be  paid  by  consumers,  is 
one  prime  cause  of  disturbed  business  conditions.  The  State 
should  control  all  business  within  the  State  of  State  corpora- 
tions. The  interstate  commerce  of  State  corporations  should 
be  controlled  by  Federal  legislation.  In  all  Federal  legislation 
regulating  State  corporations  all  business  of  such  corporations 
done  within  the  State  should  be  expressly  excepted,  with  a  pro- 
vision conferring  power  on  the  States  to  regulate  that.  Over- 
capitalization is  largely  the  whole  trouble — too  much  "  water  " 
to  pay  dividends  on.  We  have  too  many  commissions  and 
officers  and  courts  now.  Give  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission full  authority  and  sufficient  funds  to  carry  on  its  work. 
Make  concerns  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  show  that  they 
have  real  money  invested,  and  then  protect  them  to  the  extent 
of  earning  fair  interest  on  actual  value.  I  favor  national  incor- 
poration and  Federal  license.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  according  to  the  La  Follette  bill  as  outlined  in  the 
press.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of 
the  Sherman  Act.  Workers  only  make  a  living  anyhow — do 
not  make  it  any  harder  for  them  to  do  that. 

Henry   L.   Ward,   President   Burlington   Trust   Company, 
Burlington,  Vt. 

Judicial  and  political  uncertainties — the  latter  arising 
largely  from  the  four-year  term — are  responsible  for  the  unset- 
tled feeling  in  business.  The  presidential  term  should  be  eight 
years  anyway  and  twelve  would  be  still  better.  I  prefer  Federal 
license  as  the  least  of  three  evils  for  companies  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce.  I  would  suggest  an  Interstate  Corporation 
Commission.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization, 
and  laws  should  be  enacted  providing  for  publicity  applying 
to  commercial  corporations.  I  believe  in  holding  companies 
under  proper  restrictions. 

The  seven  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on 
a  large  scale  may  be  summarized  under  one  caption — "  Scien- 
tific Management."  Regulate  capitalization;  encourage  scien- 
tific management;  stimulate  ambition — and  human  nature  will 
do  the  rest. 

A.  D.  Swift,  Cashier,  Elk  County  National  Bank,  Ridgway, 
Pa. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  business.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion, and  laws  should  be  enacted  applying  publicity  to  commer- 
cial corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission! 


233 

J.  H.  Brosius  (The  National  Bank  of  Avondale),  Avondale, 
Pa. 

Unsettled  political  conditions,,  caused  largely  by  excessive 
tariffs,  with  unrestricted  industrial  combinations  'making  unrea- 
sonable profits  in  many  instances,  are  the  causes  of  disturbed 
business  conditions.  But  Fm  for  Taft  if  he  keeps  busy. 

Railroads  should  be  divorced  from  ownership  and  operation 
of  mining  and  mines  or  any  other  business,  and  vice  versa. 

I  agree  with  the  claims  made  for  those  doing  business  on  a 
large  scale;  it  might  also  be  added  that  40  per  cent,  of  produc- 
tion in  any  line  is  sufficient  for  one  concern,  and  that  such  con- 
cern ought  to  be  under  government  supervision  as  to  prices, 
wages  and  publicity.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  and  I 
regard  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  as  most  important. 
The  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is  clear  and  workable. 

W.  W.  Harker,  Vice-President  Dollar  Savings  Bank  Co., 
also  The  Harker  Pottery  Company,  East  Liverpool, 
Ohio. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  principally  to  the 
discovery  that  large  business  has  been  carried  on  illegally  for 
twenty  years.  The  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is  clear 
and  workable.  It  would  probably  be  painful  to  return  to  old 
competitive  methods,  but  I  regard  it  as  feasible.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
do  not  favor  either  national  incorporation  or  Federal  license  for 
companies  doing  an  interstate  business,  unless  the  law  apply  to 
corporations  which,  by  reason  of  size,  dominate  an  industry, 
but  not  to  others.  The  holding  company  for  many  purposes 
is  not  monopolistic,  but  is  a  useful  business  vehicle.  I  prefer 
the  enforcement  of  the  present  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  to  the 
enactment  of  statutes  forbidding  specific  practices. 

H.  M.  Shnavely,  Cashier  Farmers  National  Bank,  Ephrata, 
Pa. 

All  commissions  created  with  authority  to  interfere  with  the 
conduct  of  the  business  of  corporations  by  their  responsible 
officers  should  be  abolished.  Business  disturbance  is  due  to 
entirely  too  much  legislation  and  pernicious  interference  by 
political  demagogues  with  the  natural  course  of  business.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  The  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  should  be  legislated  out  of  existence.  Com- 
binations of  farmers  to  secure  fair  prices  for  their  products 
should  be  lawful.  Incorporation  should  be  left  to  the  States. 
I  believe  in  holding  companies.  We  should  have  specific  legis- 
lation, if  any,  dealing  with  unfair  competition  and  restraint 
of  trade.  I  do  not  favor  government  regulation  of  capitali- 
zation. 


234 

David  G.  Evans,  Advertising,  The  Curtis  Publishing  Com- 
pany, New  York. 

Large  combinations  will  always  exist;  economy  demands 
them.  I  fail  to  be  interested  in  any  movement  or  legislation 
that  does  not  seriously  consider  economy.  We  can't  improve 
permanently  without  it. 

I  admit  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  providing  a  wise  policy  is  generally  in  use. 
To  those  advantages  should  be  added  better  protection  for  mar- 
ket conditions;  saving  to  the  people  as  a  whole;  better  working 
conditions  for  employees;  a  more  general  distribution  of  good 
stocks  and  bonds  (this  is  important). 

I  prefer  Federal  legislation  for  companies  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce.  There  should  be  a  liberal  use  of  common  sense 
— and  at  least  some  general  knowledge  of  business  conditions — • 
in  the  framing  of  such  legislation.  I  do  not  believe  in  holding 
companies.  Laws  will  never  detail  and  provide  for  all  the  tricks 
of  sharp  men,  so  far  as  unfair  competition  is  concerned.  Re- 
straint of  trade  can  be  detailed  and  should  be  taken  care  of. 
Restraint-of-trade  features  are  of  great  importance  and  should 
be  so  considered  in  any  legislation  to  be  enacted.  I  favor  laws 
providing  for  government  regulation  of  capitalization,  and  I 
regard  as  indeed  important  the  enactment  of  laws  that  call  for 
publicity  and  that  armly  to  commercial  corporations,  through  a 
commission  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose.  I  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now 
enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to 
common  carriers. 

Daniel   A.    Kimball,   President,   The   Housatonic   National 
Bank,  Stockbridge,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable, 
but  the  moral  effect  has  been  good.  It  should  be  amended,  de- 
fining, if  possible,  what  is  legal.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  combinations 
of  farmers.  I  am  in  favor  of  a  national  incorporation  law,  if 
on  the  lines  of  our  Massachusetts  laws.  I  believe  in  holding 
companies,  if  reasonably  controlled.  I  prefer  special  statutes 
dealing  with  unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade;  but  I 
say  this  with  some  qualifications;  dreading  any  further  legisla- 
tion at  present.  In  the  same  spirit  I  reply  to  the  question 
relating  to  government  regulation  of  capitalization.  I  believe  in 
large  combinations  honestly  conducted.  Perhaps  I  may  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  but  not  now.  One  would  like 
to  see  more  attention  given  to  banking  and  currency  reform; 
a  low  tariff;  a  real  attempt  to  build  up  the  maritime  system 
with  American  sailors  and  American  ships;  a  parcels  post,  etc. 

Since  the  last  panic  it  would  seem  as  if  politics  and  tariff 
uncertainties  and  railroad  economies  have  been  prominent  causes 
of  business  disturbance. 


235 

A.  D.  Buckner,  Cashier,  Paris  National  Bank,  Paris,  Mo. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  a  natural  reaction 
after  too  much  prosperity,  which  brought  on  the  panic  in  1907, 
and  to  attempted  forced  return  of  prosperity  immediately  after 
the  panic.  Poor  crops  and,  unquestionably,  the  uncertainty  of 
the  results  of  pending  and  prospective  governmental  interfer- 
ence with  the  avowed  (and  possibly  unlawful)  policies  of  large 
interests  have  had  much  to  do  with  causing  uncertainty  and 
anxiety  among  business  men.  The  Sherman  Law  as  now  inter- 
preted is  clear  and  workable,  except  to  those  who  would  evade 
the  plain  intent  and  purpose  of  the  law.  I  consider  it  feasible 
to  return  to  past  competitive  methods.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  farmers 
should  be  allowed  to  combine  until  the  law  can  be  enforced 
against  combinations  which  have  made  farmers'  organizations 
necessary  for  self-protection.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The 
government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be 
passed  protecting  minority  stockholders  and  subsidiary  inter- 
ests, and  providing  for  publicity. 

Charles    M.    McCurdy,    President    First    National    Bank, 
Belief onte,  Pa. 

I  regard  national  incorporation  as  necessary  for  companies 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  believe  in  holding  companies. 
I  am  not  in  favor  of  government  regulation  of  capitalization, 
but  am  in  favor  of  publicity  being  applied  to  commercial  cor- 
porations. I  do  not  favor  multiplying  commissions  with  large 
powers.  A  national  incorporation  act  may  be  necessary,  but  the 
powers  of  any  commission  operating  under  it  should  be  restricted 
to  hearing  complaints  that  the  proper  courts  should  decide.  I 
attribute  disturbed  business  conditions  to  the  chaotic  state  of 
laws  relating  to  corporations  and  to  the  extravagance  of  the 
American  people.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed. 

S.  M.  Smith,  Wendell  State  Bank,  Wendell,  Idaho. 

I  prefer  a  longer  test  of  the  Sherman  Law  before  anything 
should  be  done  about  amending  it.  At  present  I  regard  it  as 
clear  and  workable.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Na- 
tional extravagance  and  uncertainty  as  to  the  ultimate  solution 
of  the  problems  now  confronting  the  American  people  are  the 
more  important  causes  of  business  disturbance.  I  prefer  na- 
tional incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  interstate  business. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should 
be  enacted  providing  for  publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial 
corporations  through  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


236 

A.  L.  Hoblit,  Cashier,  Carlinville  National  Bank,  Carlin- 
ville,  111. 

Want  of  confidence  in  the  large  corporations  and  the  feeling 
that  something  is  going  to  happen  and  the  universal  trend  to 
get  high  prices  for  everything,  including  labor,  are  disturbing 
business.  People  cannot  obtain  anything  except  at  exorbitant 
prices,  and  fear  that  a  collapse  will  come  and  that  heavy  losses 
must  follow  prompts  them  to  hesitate  about  undertaking  any 
new  venture  or  developing  to  a  fuller  extent  the  business  in 
which  they  are  engaged.  I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old 
competitive  methods,  not  entirely,  but  in  a  modified  form.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  its  meaning  clear,  so 
that  men  may  easily  understand  what  is  unlawful,  but  not  to 
permit  large  corporations  to  monopolize  all  lines  of  business. 
Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  As  to  a  Federal 
license  law,  I  don't  know  what  you  aim  at;  but  I  don't  favor 
requiring  license  to  do  a  legitimate  business,  outside  the  liquor 
business.  Doing  business  on  a  large  scale  makes  a  few  men 
very  wealthy,  and  increases  very  largely  the  number  dependent 
on  salaried  positions. 

Oscar  P.  Miller,  President  Lyon   County  National  Bank, 
Rock  Rapids,  Iowa. 

I  am  of  opinion  that  prosecution  by  the  government  has 
had  something  to  do  with  bringing  about  disturbed  business 
conditions;  also  tariff  discussion  and  overspeculation  have  had 
a  share  in  creating  uncertainty  among  business  men.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
would  exempt  farmers  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Law, 
as  I  do  not  think  they  could  combine  like  corporations.  I 
think  a  national  incorporation  law  a  good  plan  for  dealing  with 
the  situation.  I  favor  considerable  restriction  upon  holding 
companies.  At  the  same  time,  I  believe  they  have  their  uses. 
If  a  company  does  not  seek  to  form  combinations  for  controlling 
trade  and  commerce  it  ought  to  be  regarded  as  legitimate. 

S.  I.  Robison,  President  City  National  Bank,  Texarkana, 
Ark.-Tex. 

I  believe  that  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  exist,  and  that,  by  proper  regulation,  the 
consumer  will  get  the  benefit  of  them.  I  believe  the  Sherman 
Law  to  be  clear  and  workable,  as  now  interpreted  by  the  Su- 
preme Court.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  but  combinations  of 
farmers  should  be  permitted.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are 
due  to  uncertainty  on  the  part  of  the  financial  world,  brought  on 
by  the  "trust-busting"  proceedings. 


237 

F.  Hageman,  President  National  Bank  of  America,  Salina, 
Kan. 

Overspeculation  is  one  of  the  causes  of  disturbed  business 
conditions.  Prices  could  not  stand  still;  they  had  to  go  higher 
or  lower.  Poor  crops  in  many  localities;  the  menace  of  poli- 
ticians and  uncertainty  as  to  whether  the  government  was  go- 
ing to  confiscate  everything  that  amounted  to  anything,  have 
all  tended  to  create  anxiety  and  uncertainty  in  business  circles. 
So  many  men  have  found  it  too  easy  to  rise  into  office  by  crying 
"  Thief,"  they  think  that  what  got  them  there  will  keep  them 
there;  and  others  are  emboldened  by  the  success  of  their  prede- 
cessors. Then  there  have  been  some  outrageous  steals  by  big 
men  that  shocked  the  people  and  caused  them  to  be  suspicious 
of  everything  big.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so 
as  to  make  plain  how  a  big  business  can  be  conducted  honestly 
and 'without  oppression.  %  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates;  otherwise  there  will  be  disas- 
trous rate  wars  and  receiverships  and  defaulted  bonds.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

South  Branch  Valley  National  Bank,  Moorefield,  W.  Va., 
A.  M.  Inskeep,  President. 

We  are  in  doubt  as  to  whether  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now 
interpreted,  is  clear  and  workable.  We  do  not  consider  it  feas- 
ible to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  We  do  not  favor  a 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  All  combinations  in 
restraint  of  trade  should  be  regarded  as  unlawful.  We  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law  and  Federal  license.  Too  much 
legislation,  and  not  enough  of  the  right  kind,  is  the  cause  of 
disturbance  in  business.  The  government  should  regulate  capi- 
talization, and  laws  should  be  enacted  calling  for  publicity 
applied  to  commercial  corporations. 

Hugh  L.  McElderry,  President  Talladega  National  Bank, 
Talladega,  Ala. 

I  believe  big  concerns,  like  the  Standard  Oil,  help  more 
people  than  they  hurt,  by  giving  a  cheaper  and  better  article 
to  the  consumer.  I  favor  Federal  incorporation  for  interstate 
business.  We  might  as  well  go  back  to  the  wooden  plow-stick 
some  of  us  used  as  boys,  as  to  go  back  to  old-fashioned  com- 
petition. Holding  companies  should  be  supervised  under  strict 
limitation  and  governmental  control.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  repealed,  provided  we  have  a  law  enacted  permitting  Federal 
incorporation  and  regulation  of  interstate  business.  The  gov- 
ernment should  stop  badgering  everyone  who  has  managed  to  be 
successful  in  business  and  to  accumulate  a  fortune. 


238 

Henry  Koehler,Western  Exchange  Bank,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  interstate 
commerce,  with  control  by  the  government  similar  to  that  ap- 
plied to  national  banks.  I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies. 
Each  corporation  should  be  separate,  distinct  and  independent, 
with  capital  limited  to  cash  value  of  property  and  plant.  Gov- 
ernment regulation  of  capitalization  would  be  best  both  for  the 
corporations  and  the  people.  Publicity  applied  to  commercial 
corporations  would  be  best  for  all  legitimate  business.  Securi- 
ties of  corporations,  under  proper  regulation,  would  command 
better  prices  and  a  larger  number  of  investors.  Corporations 
should  be  limited  in  issuing  stock  and  securities  to  actual  cash 
and  worth  of  property  owned.  I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the 
"holding  company"  is  the  greatest  evil  and  should  be  legis- 
lated out  of  business. 

As  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on 
a  large  scale,  I  do  not  believe  in  the  "  economies  of  production." 
Experience  has  not  shown  this  to  be  true.  Where  there  has 
been  a  saving  in  operation,  etc.,  overhead  charges  are  generally 
increased,  and,  on  the  whole,  it  has  increased  cost.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  proper  authority. 

O.  C.  Davidson,  President  Commercial  Bank  of  Iron  Moun- 
tain, Iron  Mountain,  Mich. 

I  believe  that  the  advantages  which  are  claimed  for  those 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale  exist,  and  that,  if  not  permitted 
to  do  business  on  a  large  scale,  a  large  portion  of  our  export 
business  would  soon  be  lost.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission,  and  Federal  legislation  to  deal  with  companies 
doing  interstate  commerce.  I  believe  in  holding  companies  as 
absolutely  necessary.  The  Sherman  Law  should  either  be  repealed 
or  amended.  Statutes  should  forbid  specified  practices  of  unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should 
regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  com- 
mercial corporations.  Too  much  politics;  too  many  hypocrites 
who  pose  as  reformers,  are  responsible  for  disturbed  business 
conditions. 

A.  D.  Allen  (Fidelity  Trust  Company),  Louisville,  Ky. 

Not  knowing  what's  going  to  happen,  and  hardly  knowing 
what  has  happened — in  other  words,  uncertainty — is  responsible 
for  existing  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  is  not 
clear  and  workable,  and  I  favor  its  repeal.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  trade 
unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Act.  Combinations  of  farmers  to  secure  fair  prices  for  their 
products  should  be  lawful.  Xo  farmers'  combination  will  be 
tight  enough  to  do  much  harm.  I  favor  Federal  license  for  com- 
panies engaged  in  interstate  commerce. 


239 

A.  F.  Daley,  President  and  General  Counsel,  Wrightsville 
&  Tennille  Railroad  Company,  Tennille,  Ga. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  such  large  combinations 
of  capital  as  are  clearly  organized  for  interstate  business,  but 
local  organizations  should  be  subject  to  State  control,  such  as 
short  lines  of  railways  wholly  within  one  State  and  handling 
interstate  business  only  in  connection  with  larger  lines.  If  this 
is  not  practicable,  then  national  incorporation  for  all  under 
control  of  one  commission.  The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  should 
be  repealed  and  specific  legislation  enacted,  showing  what  is 
illegal.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization.  The 
advantages  claimed  by  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale 
exist  and  should  be  encouraged  and  protected  by  law. 

The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  is  a  standing  menace  to 
invested  capital  and  should  be  substituted  by  specific  laws  suited 
to  the  public  interest.  The  regulation  of  capital  in  public  utility 
investments  should  also  carry  with  it  such  regulation  of  labor 
as  will  protect  capital  from  oppressive  demands  of  labor. 

Orion  Latimer,  President  First  National  Bank,  Abingdon, 
111. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an 
interstate  business.  The  additional  legislation  which  I  favor, 
to  prevent  exploitation  of  producers  and  consumers,  is  the  ap- 
pointment of  a  commission  to  regulate  interstate  trade.  I  believe 
in  holding  companies,  providing  they  are  properly  conducted. 
Corporations  should  be  supervised  the  same  as  the  national 
banks.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and 
laws  should  be  passed  providing  publicity  for  commercial  cor- 
porations. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  define  fair 
and  unfair  competition.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Business  conditions  are  un- 
settled over  corporate  regulation,  and  uncertainty  as  to  the 
methods  to  be  pursued  to  set  things  right. 

W.  D.  Despard,  Marine  Insurance,  Electric  Lighting  and 
Power,  New  York  City. 

I  am  in  favor  of  Federal  control  of  all  commerce  conducted 
by  corporations.  I  am  a  stockholder  and  an  officer  of  corpora- 
tions myself.  We  have  a  Federal  bankruptcy  law.  Why  not 
extend  the  principle? 

Lack  of  decision,  directness  and,  above  all,  of  promptness  on 
the  part  of  the  courts  in  dealing  with  these  questions,  and  lack 
of  authority  of  the  Federal  administration  are  causes  of  busi- 
ness disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  If 
not  repealed,  it  should  be  amended  so  that  it  can  be  complied 
with.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 


240 

Rathbone  Gardner,  President  Union  Trust  Company,  Prov- 
idence, R.  I. 

Legislation  should  proceed  in  accordance  with  the  fact  that 
there  are  natural  monopolies  and  that,  under  present-day  con- 
ditions, many  lines  of  business  can  only  be  conducted  economi- 
cally on  a  large  scale  and  by  the  use  of  vast  aggregations  of 
capital.  Such  monopolies  and  near-monopolies  should  be  sanc- 
tioned and  regulated.  I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  com- 
panies engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  The  Sherman  Act  can- 
not reach  such  evils  as  the  exploitation  of  producers  and  con- 
sumers. Clear  and  definite  legislation,  dealing  with  them 
directly,  is  requisite.  Government  regulation  of  capitalization 
is  more  needed  than  anything  else.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  Combinations  of  farm- 
ers, either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher 
prices,  should  not  be  rendered  lawful.  In  my  judgment,  dis- 
turbed business  conditions  are  due  to  apprehension  as  to  pos- 
sible tariff  legislation  and  uncertainty  as  to  legality  of  methods 
in  use  by  big  business. 

J.  W.  Vanden,  First  National  Bank,  Jackson,  Tenn. 

I  fail  to  see  any  indication  of  business  trouble.  Crops  are 
good ;  productions  of  all  kinds  are  normal ;  real  values  are  firm ; 
money  cheap;  products  command  a  good  price;  and  there  are 
no  more  labor  troubles  than  usual.  Therefore,  we  have  occasion 
to  exult  over  conditions. 

I  believe  in  a  reduction  of  the  tariff  to  a  revenue  basis  and, 
when  the  income  tax  is  sufficient  to  pay  governmental  expenses, 
in  free  trade  absolutely  in  the  necessaries  of  life.  All  corpora- 
tions doing  interstate  business  should  be  under  governmental 
(Federal)  control  and  should  be  taxed  so  as  to  produce  revenue 
to  the  government  and  not  permit  the  building  up  of  monopo- 
lies. Prevent  the  building  up  of  such  enormous  fortunes  by 
legislation.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  from  time 
to  time  to  meet  extraordinary  conditions.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  na- 
tional incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Holding  companies  should  be  absolutely  pro- 
hibited. 

J.  H.  Hunt,  The  Union  National  Bank,  Massillon,  Ohio. 

Yes,  the  Sherman  Law  is  made  clear  and  workable.  Every 
case  will  now  go  to  the  Supreme  Court  to  decide  "what  is 
reasonable."  We  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  As  to 
amendment,  there  is  no  room  between  private  and  government 
ownership.  Any  business  disturbance  is  caused  by  stirring  up 
the  water  in  stocks.  Legitimate  business  is  not  disturbed. 


241 

Lorenzo  Leland,  President  First  National  Bank,  Ottawa, 
111. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  legal  status  of  corporations;  uncer- 
tainty as  to  currency  and  banking  laws,  etc.,  are  causing  the 
present  disturbed  business  conditions.  I  favor  some  clear,  posi- 
tive, direct  legislation  on  the  subject  dealt  with  by  the  Sherman 
Law,  so  that  men  can  tell  whether  or  not  they  are  violating  the 
law.  This  might  or  might  not  require  the  repeal  of  the  Sher- 
man Law.  I  favor  national  incorporation  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

I  believe  in  doing  business  on  a  large  scale ;  that  competition 
alone  will  no  longer  furnish  sufficient  means  of  control,  and 
that  the  central  government  should  furnish  it  through  a  com- 
mission or  in  some  such  manner. 

In  addition  to  other  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale  should  be  added  that  they  can  borrow 
money,  when  necessary,  at  lower  rates  because  they  are  safer. 
They  do  not  carry  so  much  idle  capital  in  proportion  to  the 
volume  of  business.  In  support  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission, it  may  be  remarked  that  banks  organized  under  the 
laws  of  the  United  States  are  examined  and  supervised  by  the 
government, — why  not  other  corporations? 

R.   L.   Saville,   Cashier   Dawson   National  Bank,   Dawson, 
Ga. 

Development  of  the  various  industries  of  the  country  has 
taxed  financial  resources  to  their  utmost.  Investments  in  so 
many  instances  have  proven  faulty  that  investors  are  suffering 
from  a  lack  of  expected  returns,  and  traders,  on  the  other  hand, 
are  suffering  from  the  absence  of  the  profits  they  expected  to 
make  on  borrowed  capital.  These  conditions  naturally  cause 
disturbance,  and  in  some  cases  worse  than  disturbance. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable  and  should  be 
amended.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  lawful. 
I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  com- 
merce and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  to  supervise  their 
business.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and 
corporations  should  be  obliged  to  comply  with  rules  requiring 
publicity  regarding  everything  the  public  has  a  right  to  know. 

A.  A.  Bryden,  President  Miners  Savings  Bank,  Pittston,  Pa. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not 
unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission in  relation  to  common  carriers.  Companies  doing  inter- 
state commerce  should  be  controlled  by  Federal  legislation.  I 
am  opposed  to  holding  companies,  and  I  favor  laws  providing 
for  government  regulation  of  capitalization,  and  also  laws  that 
provide  for  publicity,  as  applied  to  commercial  corporations. 


242 

J.   M.   Sharon,  President  Harrison  National  Bank,  Cadiz, 
Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  more  clear  wherever  it  is 
not  clear.  A  national  incorporation  law  would  probably  be  best 
in  some  cases.  I  cannot  see  that  it  would  do  any  harm  to  allow 
railroads  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  an 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Legislation  should  be  en- 
acted requiring  that  in  all  cases  the  actual  amount  of  cash 
invested  in  a  company  shall  be  shown.  I  think  no  company 
should  be  allowed  to  do  business,  unless  the  actual  amount  of 
capital  represented  should  have  been  paid  in  cash,  and  that 
such  capital  should  be  unimpaired  and  in  no  case  bonded  for 
more  than  60  per  cent,  of  its  value.  Capital  paid  in  should  be 
cash,  same  as  a  national  bank  is  organized,  and  the  capital  should 
be  kept  good  and  at  least  annual  statements  made.  Too  many 
persons  and  firms  are  now  selling  worthless  stocks  and  swindling 
people.  This  business  now  is  doing  more  harm  than  all  the 
trusts  ever  did. 

A.  M.  Shook,  President  The  First  Savings  Bank  &  Trust 
Company,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable;  it  leaves  each 
case  to  be  decided  on  its  own  merits,  resulting  in  endless  litiga- 
tion and  uncertainty.  To  attempt  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods  would  be  ruinous  to  the  business  of  the  country.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  another  law  passed  to 
meet  modern  conditions.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates. 

I  am  inclined  to  favor  State  incorporation,  with  Eederal 
license  for  those  companies  engaged  in  interstate  trade.  I  think 
that  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  is  the  best  solution  of  the 
problem. 

Political  uncertainty,  tariff  agitation  and  the  unreasonable 
and  unnecessary  assaults  on  legitimate  business  are  the  causes 
of  uncertainty  in  the  business  world. 

C.  Cadogan,  President  Citizens'   National  Bank,  Hornell, 
N.  Y. 

I  think  President  Taft  is  wrong  in  proceeding  against  the 
United  States  Steel  Company,  as  they  were  trying  hard  to  get 
within  the  law.  There  is  no  class  of  securities  held  as  extensively 
by  all  classes  of  the  people  as  the  United  States  Steel.  Any- 
thing befalling  them,  the  harm  is  far-reaching.  These  great 
business  problems  should  be  dealt  with  entirely  outside  of  poli- 
tics. Admitting  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  still  I  think  the  small  dealer  has  rights  and 
should  be  protected.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  and 
United  States  government  control  for  companies  doing  interstate 
business.  I  also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


243 

W.  J.  Thorn,  Cashier,  The  First  National  Bank,  Buffalo, 
Wyoming. 

Overspeculation,  the  disturbing  effect  of  government  attacks 
on  trusts  and,  most  of  all,  the  course  pursued  by  the  trusts 
themselves  in  their  efforts  to  convince  the  government  and  the 
people  that  these  attacks  are  the  sole  cause  of  depression,  and 
that  business  would  be  prosperous  if  the  trusts  were  let  alone 
and  allowed  to  practice  their  high-handed  operations  as  here- 
tofore, are~the  causes  of  business  uncertainty  and  lack  of  con- 
fidence in  the  future. 

So  much  is  written  for  and  against  the  Sherman  Law  that 
it  is  impossible  for  a  layman  to  decide  intelligently  as  to  its 
merits.  The  arguments  of  special  pleaders  on  both  sides  are 
very  plausible. 

Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  but  always  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

Samuel  Lehman,  Vice-President  Pearl  Street  Market  Bank, 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable,  and  should  be 
either  repealed  or  amended.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

The  politicians  who  are  trying  to  make  capital  for  political 
purposes;  the  many  laws  introduced  and  some  enacted,  making 
moneyed  men  timid  to  invest  in  any  new  enterprise  or  expand 
what  they  already  have,  are  responsible  for  disturbed  business 
conditions.  I  think  that  laws  should  be  passed  to  prevent  large 
corporations  from  charging  exorbitant  prices.  I  believe  in  hold- 
ing companies  and  in  fair  competition,  but  not  restraint  of 
trade.  A  law  preventing  watered  stock  would  be  beneficial  and 
a  protection  to  innocent  purchasers. 

Charles  E.  Ulrich,  Vice-President  Home  Savings  &  State 
Bank,  Peoria,  111. 

The  enormous  wealth  of  individuals  and  corporations,  de- 
rived from  the  profits  of  their  business,  seems  proof  to  me  that 
the  profit  is  too  large,  or  not  properly  divided,  and  that  the 
public  is  the  ultimate  sufferer.  Combinations  of  all  kinds  of 
enterprises,  with  intent  to  get  the  best  of  the  consumer — i.  e., 
to  raise  prices  beyond  fair  profit — have  caused  whatever  dis- 
turbance exists. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  provided  great  care 
is  taken  not  to  have  its  duties  and  powers  conflict  with  those 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  Federal  license.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  in  the  further  direction  of  restraint  of  super- 
vision over  corporations. 


244 

Allen  W.  Johnston,  Treasurer,  The  Schenectady  Savings 
Bank,  Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

As  to  returning  to  old  competitive  methods,  I  answer, 
Yankee  fashion,  If  no  competition,  would  there  not  be  monop- 
oly? If  no  competition,  would  there  be  as  good  quality? 

Here  is  what  I  know  about  farming.  I  have  a  farm  of 
seventy-five  acres  and  do  considerable  truck  gardening.  My 
farmer  goes  to  the  city  sometimes  with  a  load  of  tomatoes  which, 
for  a  profit,  should  bring  from  fifty  to  seventy-five  cents,  at 
least,  a  bushel  or  basket.  At  times  he  finds  the  city  flooded 
—so  to  speak — with  tomatoes  and  find  farmers  anxious  to  get 
home  and  get  to  work,  selling  their  tomatoes  at  twenty-five  and 
thirty  cents  a  bushel.  He  either  dumps  his  load  likewise  and 
comes  back,  or  brings  the  load  back  and  tries  it  again.  I  ask 
again  the  question,  "Would  it  not  be  better  for  farmers  to 
either  fix  for  themselves  a  better  method  of  marketing,  or  have 
somebody  do  it  for  them  ?  "  For  instance,  if  they  have  over- 
produced in  the  case  of  tomatoes,  should  they  not  confer  as  to 
the  acreage  to  be  produced  in  that  district?  Or  if,  perchance, 
they  omitted  to  produce  enough  in  a  season,  would  it  not  be 
better  for  the  consumer,  as  well  as  the  producer,  if  they  con- 
ferred likewise?  Or  if,  perchance,  they  all  rush  to  market  on 
one  day,  should  they  not  confer  to  regulate  such  mistake? 

C.  Frederick  Childs,  Bond  Dealer  and  Banker,  Chicago,  111. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  public's  inability 
to  understand  the  extent  to  which  the  courts'  interpretation  of 
the  Sherman  Law  may  be  carried,  and  the  visible  effects  of 
destroying  corporations  which  have  been  responsible  for  the 
country's  prosperity  and  our  national  supremacy  as  a  progressive 
people.  We  need  concentrated  capital  and  well-organized  cor- 
porations to  compete  with  the  nations  of  the  world.  Apprecia- 
tion of  this  fact  was  the  principal  reason  for  the  Canadian  de- 
feat of  reciprocity.  If  Congress  will  harness  the  labor  unions 
and  corporations  to  the  same  governmental  vehicle  and  drive 
them  both  with  the  power  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 
the  beneficent  result  to  the  common  people  as  a  whole  would 
be  inevitable.  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from 
the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  They  should  be  regulated, 
and  under  the  same  governmental  supervision  and  control  as 
corporations. 

F.   P.   Browne,   Cashier,   First   National  Bank,   Bay   City, 
Mich. 

I  fear  the  attempts  of  any  commission  to  regulate  business, 
and  think  it  can  more  safely  be  left  to  competition ;  but  I  favor 
requiring  publicity,  through  sworn  statements,  showing  actual 
paid-in  capital,  dividends  and  other  profits,  with  fines  for  mis- 
statements,  etc. 


245 

Henry  L.  Holmes,  Orange  National  Bank,  Orange,  N.  J. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  (1)  the  growing 
realization  that  the  "interests"  (so  called)  have  been  reaping 
an  unjust  profit  by  reason  of  political  preferences,  such  as  the 
tariff,  favorable  railroad  rates,  etc. ;  ( 2 )  the  belief  that  they  are 
the  instruments  in  returning  to  power  the  political  forces  which 
have  granted  and  will  continue  to  grant  these  preferences;  (3) 
exposures  of  dishonesty  in  high  places — the  Sugar  Trust  thefts, 
the  insurance  investigation,  etc.;  (4)  class  against  mass,  en- 
gendered by  causes  mentioned  above;  (5)  uncertainty  regard- 
ing the  effect  of  corrective  measures,  such  as  tariff  revision.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

R.  L.   Selden,  Cashier  Deep  River  National  Bank,   Deep 
River,  Conn. 

There  are  very  few  so-called  laws  that  can  meet  changing 
requirements  without  amendments,  except  it  be  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments. The  Sherman  Law  is  clear,  but  not  entirely  work- 
able. We  should  have  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  I  believe  thoroughly  in  the  advan- 
tages claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  such  as 
economies  in  production,  economies  in  distribution,  greater  use 
of  by-products,  steadier  employment  of  labor  and  at  better 
wages,  etc. 

George  B.  Pendleton,  Cashier,  New  Bern  Banking  &  Trust 
Company,  New  Bern,  N.  C. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  permit  large 
corporations  to  do  business  on  a  large  scale,  but  under  strict 
supervision  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  which  should 
have  broad  and  liberal  powers  to  prevent  any  abuses.  Combina- 
tions of  farmers  should  be  under  strict  supervision  of  the  same 
commission.  Uncertainty  is  the  cause  of  business  disturbance. 
Let  us  follow  the  example  of  Germany ;  they — one  of  our  great- 
est commercial  nations — encourage  the  corporation  idea,  but  do 
not  fail  to  exercise  control  over  the  corporations. 

William    Hurd    Hillyer,    Vice-President    and    Treasurer, 
Hillyer  Trust  Company,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

The  Sherman  Act  should  be  repealed.  I  believe  in  holding 
companies,  but  with  such  requirements  as  to  publicity  as  would 
protect  the  investor  and  clearly  define  the  relations  between 
the  parent  company  and  subsidiaries.  I  prefer  Federal  license 
to  national  incorporation.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. In  my  judgment,  the  reactionary  attempt  to  force 
destructive  competition  on  a  co-operative  age  is  responsible  for 
present  business  disturbance. 


246 

Mortimer  M.  Singer,  Mortgages,  New  York. 

Too  much  promoting;  too  active  growth  of  railroads  and  of 
large  manufacturing  plants ;  a  national  lack  of  patience,  and  too 
much  extravagance  in  private,  State  and  national  affairs  are 
the  causes  of  disturbance  in  business.  A  decade  of  quiet  is 
needed  to  impress  upon  our  people  the  proper  purpose  of  life 
and  the  equities  of  properties.  The  Sherman  Law  I  regard 
as  clear  and  workable.  I  favor,  under  certain  conditions,  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law.  An  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  is  desirable,  but  not  until  a  test  has 
been  made  of  the  plans  of  the  reorganization  of  the  American 
Tobacco  Company,  the  Standard  Oil  Company,  etc. 

Frank  C.  Bolt,  President  San  Gabriel  Valley  Bank,  Pasa- 
dena, Cal. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law, 
also  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if  possible  to  cover  such 
a  large  proposition. 

Newspapers,  by  deceiving  the  people  as  to  cost  of  what  they 
consume,  have  unsettled  people's  minds  as  to  business  condi- 
tions. Oftentimes  the  first  cost  of  an  article  is  not  as  much 
as  the  cost  of  delivering  the  article  to  the  consumer.  The  first 
cost  of  ice  is  about  $2  per  ton.  To  deliver  it  into  your  box 
adds  $8  per  ton,  because  of  the  small  quantit}r  taken  at  one 
time,  and  so  it  goes  down  through  the  whole  list. 

F.  J.  Lisman,  F.  J.  Lisman  &  Co.,  Bankers,  New  York  City. 

Too  much  ill-considered  legislation,  with  the  possibility  of 
more  of  the  same  kind;  also  the  rigid  enforcement  of  the  Sher- 
man Law,  have  been  and  are  causes  of  business  disquietude. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  something  reason- 
able enacted  in  its  place.  Combinations  should  be  allowed,  and 
corporations  should  be  required  to  file  copies  of  the  agreement 
made  with  some  court,  the  court  to  decide  within  thirty  days 
whether  the  same  is  reasonable.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates — they  must  in  the  very 
nature  of  their  business.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.  S.  Aisthorpe,  President,  First  Bank  and  Trust  Company, 
Cairo,  111. 

The  uncertainty  of  legislation  and  how  the  laws  are  to  be 
applied  to  large  corporations  is  the  main  cause  of  such  business 
disturbance  as  exists.  I  believe  the  business  interests  of  the 
country  can  be  conserved  by  fair  and  equitable  regulation  of 
the  combination  of  large  capital  in*  various  enterprises,  that 
allows  reasonable  profits  to  cover  risks  and  all  depreciations.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  for  interstate  business,  Fed- 
eral license  for  interstate  corporations  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 


247 

Wilbur  M.  Purrington,   Manager  Savings  Bank,  Hayden- 
ville,  Mass. 

The  periodic  contraction  of  demand  due  to  our  habit  of 
spending  our  earnings  before  we  get  them  accounts  for  a  large 
share  of  such  disturbance  as  at  present  exists  in  business  affairs. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  meet  conditions  requir- 
ing remedial  legislation.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  am  of  the  opinion 
that  laws  should  be  passed  preventing  one  company  from  hold- 
ing stock  in  another,  also  providing  for  government  regulation 
of  capitalization  and  for  publicity,  as  applied  to  commercial 
corporations. 

G.    T.    Townsend,    President    Merchants    National    Bank, 
Middletown,  N.  Y. 

If  people  would  be  industrious,  careful,  not  extravagant, 
and  we  had  less  lawmaking,  things  would  be  better.  I  favor 
a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Neither  trade  unions  nor  farm- 
ers should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act 
if  it  is  to  continue  in  force.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law  and  Federal  license,  but  not  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. We  want  no  more  interstate  commissions  composed  of 
politicians.  Natural  laws  account  for  any  disturbance  that 
exists  in  business.  Business  cannot  always  be  good — there  must 
be  ups  and  downs. 

S.  H.  Beach,  President  The  Rome  Savings  Bank,  Rome, 
N.  Y. 

The  chief  cause  of  business  disturbance  undoubtedly  is  the 
uncertainty  felt  by  every  business  corporation  as  to  what  effect 
the  further  enforcing  of  the  Sherman  Law  will  have  upon  its 
particular  business.  The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear 
and  workable,  and  should  be  amended  to  enable  a  corporation 
to  know  exactly  what  its  restrictions  are.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a 
Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

F.  V.  Blesse,  First  National  Bank,  Eagle  Pass,  Tex. 

Fear  of  destruction  of  vested  interests  is  the  cause  of  busi- 
ness disturbance.  I  strongly  favor  a  new  banking  and  cur- 
rency law  similar  to  the  Aldrich  plan,  which  would  undoubt- 
edly tend  greatly  to  improve  the  business  situation.  The  Sher- 
man Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable  and  ought  to 
be  repealed  if  a  better  law  can  be  enacted  in  its  place — one  that 
will  be  clearer  and  more  efficient.  I  favor  national  incorpora- 
tion, Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


248 

W.  S.  Hazelton,  St.  Joseph  Valley  Bank,  Elkhart,  Ind. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  forcing  the  dissolution  of  the 
large  corporations  and  to  too  much  jingo  politics,  also  to  too 
much  tampering  with  the  tariff.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  I  favor  Federal  legislation  dealing  with  compa- 
nies doing  an  interstate  business.  The  law  should  give  to  the 
government  one  director  in  all  chartered  companies  of  any  size. 
Additional  legislation  should  deal  with  the  exploitation  of  pro- 
ducers and  consumers.  The  government  should  regulate  capi- 
talization and  apply  publicity  to  commercial  corporations.  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Frederick  W.  Crosby,  Retired  Banker,  Chicago,  111. 

The  uncertainty  caused  by  attacks  of  the  government  on  cor- 
porations is  partly  responsible  for  disturbed  business  conditions. 
The  political  situation  is  also  an  important  factor,  and  a  menace 
to  all  business  enterprises.  I  most  assuredly  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law.  The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  work- 
able, and  should  be  amended.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  not 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  com- 
binations of  farmers,  to  restrict  production  or  hold  a  crop  for 
higher  prices,  should  not  be  lawful. 

David  H.  Miller,  Cotton  Exchange,  New  York. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law,  as  thus  far  interpreted,  as  clear 
and  workable.  A  return  to  old  competitive  methods  is  not 
only  feasible,  but  necessary;  as  a  failure  to  do  so  will  inevitably 
lead  to  socialism.  A  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  would  be  a 
great  calamity.  No  decisions  yet  rendered  warrant  any  amend- 
ment of  the  Sherman  Law.  These  decisions  have  not  only  dis- 
solved certain  illegal  combinations,  but  they  have  prevented 
the  formation  or  extension  of  many  others.  I  concede  that 
further  litigation  may  show  that  the  law  should  be  amended, 
but  the  present  situation  does  not. 

Lyman  P.  Osborn,  President,  Warren  National  Bank,  Pea- 
body,  Mass. 

Take  out  of  the  Sherman  Law  anything  which  can  be  con- 
strued as  making  illegal  the  "  ability  "  to  monopolize.  Prohibit 
the  act  and  intent,  but  not  mere  size.  Combinations  of  farm- 
ers should  be  rendered  lawful  under  the  Sherman  Act,  but 
trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  its  operation.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  attempt  to  enforce  the 
present  Sherman  Law,  which  no  two  persons  now  construe 
in  the  same  way,  is  largely  responsible  for  business  uncertainty. 


249 

John    A.    Potter,    President    Patchogue    Bank,   Patchogue, 
N.  Y. 

Railroads  and  other  corporations  are  largely  responsible  for 
present  agitation  by  their  arbitrary  and  unfair  methods.  Labor 
unions,  whether  incorporated  or  not,  should  be  treated  on  the 
same  basis  as  employers'  corporations,  and  be  compelled  to  live 
up  to  their  contracts.  I  favor  Federal  incorporation,  with 
proper  restrictions,  for  companies  doing  interstate  business.  Im- 
pending tariff  legislation,  insane  real  estate  speculation,  which 
prevails  all  over  the  United  States,  are  among  the  more  prom- 
inent causes  of  business  disturbance. 

F.  H.  Goff,  President  Cleveland  Trust  Company,  Cleveland, 
Ohio. 

The  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  impossibility 
of  determining  what  is  lawful  and  what  unlawful  in  carrying  on 
business,  especially  the  business  of  large  corporations.  I  con- 
sider it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods,  if  large 
combinations  are  to  be  permitted.  I  favor  amending  the  Sher- 
man Law  by  defining  clearly  the  character  of  combinations  or 
business  methods  that  are  to  be  prohibited.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  be- 
lieve in  holding  companies  as  essential  to  economic  manage- 
ment. 

T.  G.  Coombe  &  Co.,  Bankers  and  Brokers,  New  York  City. 

1.  Overspeculation  and  too  much  capital  sunk  in  productive 
capacity  and  other  fixed  forms  for  the  past  decade. 

2.  Too  much  pplitics  and  hasty  and  unwise  legislation. 

3.  Too  few  producers  and  too  many  distributors  and  con- 
sumers proportionately,  leading  to  high  cost  of  living,  are  the 
causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  repealed  and  a  new  measure  adopted  in  accordance 
with  modern  requirements.  An  Interstate  Trade  Commission 
like  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  might  wield  too  much 
power  unwisely. 

J.  F.  Wheeler,  Cashier,  Pioneer  Dime  Bank,  Carbondale, 
Pa. 

I  prefer  Federal  legislation  for  dealing  with  companies  en- 
gaged in  interstate  commerce.  The  Sherman  Act  is  sufficient, 
in  my  judgment,  to  prevent  the  exploitation  of  producers  and 
consumers.  I  believe  in  holding  companies,  under  proper  regu- 
lation. I  favor  regulation,  not  destruction,  in  dealing  with 
unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  applied 
to  commercial  corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. I  admit  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale. 


250 

F.  T.  Conkling,  Cashier  Greenville  National  Bank,  Green- 
ville, Ohio. 

I  believe  in  the  appointment  of  a  commission,  with  proper 
laws  behind  its  members,  to  control  trusts  and  combinations, 
and  to  see  that  no  fictitious  values  are  created,  and  that  the 
money  used  in  forming  the  corporations  shall  be  the  actual  cost 
of  physical  value  of  the  business  established.  I  favor  national 
incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  interstate  business.  I  am 
opposed  to  holding  companies.  The  government  should  regu- 
late capitalization  and  should  apply  publicity  to  commercial 
corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Wa- 
tered stocks  and  bonds  are  the  chief  causes  of  business  troubles. 

E.  A.  Vinson,  American  National  Bank,  Cordele,  Ga. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not 
unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion in  relation  to  common  carriers.  I  prefer  Federal  license 
for  companies  doing  an  interstate  business.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  applied 
to  commercial  corporations,  so  far  as  the  public  have  a  right  to 
be  interested  in  their  affairs.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  be 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  farmers 
should  be  allowed  to  form  combinations. 

J.  F.  McKinney,  Treasurer,  Palisades  Trust  and  Guaranty 
Company,  Englewood,  N.  J. 

Too  much  greed  by  corporations  and  American  people  gen- 
erally is  causing  unfortunate  business  conditions.  Machinery 
of  our  government  is  worn  out  and  not  applicable  to  the  pres- 
ent needs  of  the  country  or  the  spirit  of  progress  and  advance- 
ment dominant  in  this  Republic. 

Enact  a  Federal  law  requiring  publicity.  Appoint  commis- 
sions by  the  President,  composed  of  same  character  of  men  con- 
stituting the  Supreme  Court,  who  shall  have  power  to  regulate 
stock  and  bond  issues,  have  power  to  fix  rates,  etc.,  but  permit 
appeal  in  important  cases  to  the  Supreme  Court. 

J.  W.  L.  Carty,  Cashier  Frederick  County  National  Bank, 
Frederick,  Md. 

Fear  on  the  part  of  capital  because  of  agitation  and  because 
business  men,  it  seems,  do  not  know  how  to  proceed  under  the 
law,  are  the  causes  of  business  anxiety  and  hesitation.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended,  after  proper  investigation  as  to 
its  faults.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  in  inter- 
state commerce.  I  believe  in  holding  companies.  In  regard  to 
overcapitalization,  it  may  be  said  that  by  overcapitalization 
.capital  will  sometimes  take  a  chance. 


251 

R.    F.    Clarke,    President   People's    National    Bank,    Inde- 
pendence, Iowa. 

Specific  legislation,,  instead  of  general  legislation,  could  take 
care  of  many  difficulties  now  existing.  The  public  is  asking  for 
an  extremely  high  basis  of  living,  and  the  cost  is  more  than 
they  can  stand — a  reaction  is  bound  to  take  place.  More  spe- 
cific legislation  is  needed  than  the  Sherman  Law  now  provides. 
I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate  busi- 
ness. I  believe  in  holding  companies,  and  I  consider  that  the 
advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale 
actually  exist. 

B.  F.  White,  President  First  National  Bank,  Dillon,  Mont. 

The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  are  clear  and  apparent  and  should  be  protected.  I  prefer 
Federal  license  as  a  last  resort  for  companies  conducting  an 
interstate  business.  I  believe  in  holding  companies  to  a  limited 
extent.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable,  and 
do  not  favor  amending  it.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  combinations  of  farmers,  to 
secure  fair  prices  for  their  productions,  should  be  permitted. 
Too  much  agitation,  causing  social  and  industrial  unrest,  is 
responsible  for  present  disturbed  business  conditions. 

A.  E.  Mason,  Treasurer  Glens  Falls  Trust  Company,  Glens 
Falls,  N.  Y. 

Too  much  legislation  and  lax  enforcement  of  existing  laws 
are  responsible  for  business  agitation  and  anxiety.  The  Sher- 
man Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
favor  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. I  am  not  opposed  to  holding  companies,  if  a  holding  com- 
pany is  properly  regulated.  Government  should  regulate  capi- 
talization, and  laws  should  be  passed  applying  publicity  to  com- 
mercial corporations. 

W.  M.  Van  Deusen,  Cashier,  National  Newark  Banking 
Company,  Newark,  N.  J. 

It  is  no  crime  to  be  large;  but  large  corporations  must 
realize  their  larger  responsibility.  The  cause  of  business  dis- 
turbance is  chiefly  uncertainty.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  so  far  as  it  may  be  shown  to  conflict  with  proper 
business  methods.  Federal  incorporation  would  be  all  right  if 
not  misused  for  political  ends.  In  addition  to  the  other  advan- 
tages claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  may  be 
added  that  it  is  easier  to  deal  with  labor.  I  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 


252 

A.  H.   Hale,  President  First  National  Bank,  Manchester, 
N.  H. 

All  business  tending  to  become  monopoly  should  be  obliged 
to  make  the  same  rates  to  all  buyers  and  consumers,  large  or 
small,  so  as  to  give  everybody  an  equal  chance  to  deal  with  the 
corporation,  regardless  of  the  amount  of  capital  or  quantity  of 
business — i.  e.f  railroad  rates  at  reduced  figures  to  big  corpora- 
tions crush  out  small  corporations  and  should  not  be  given.  The 
Sherman  Law  is  more  clear  and  workable  than  many  people  will 
admit,  but  it  can  be  improved  upon.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  a  Federal  license  law  only  under  certain  circum- 
stances, and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if  two  commissions 
are  necessary.  Disturbance  in  business  has  been  due  to  excess 
of  business  conducted  on  unfair  terms.  The  people  know  some- 
thing is  wrong,  but  don't  know  how  to  go  to  work  to  right 
things.  They  are  bound  to  find  relief  in  some  way,  if  not  in 
the  best  way. 

E.  Q.  Trowbridge,  Banker,  New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  make  it  clear 
and  workable.  I  consider  a  return  to  old  competitive  methods 
as  feasible,  in  a  degree.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  Trade  unions  should  by  no  means  be  ex- 
cepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Law.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  Economic  conditions  and  political  agita.- 
tion  are  mainly  responsible  for  business  disturbance. 

F.  H.  Chalmers,  President,  Farmers  National  Bank,  Salem, 

Va. 

Prosecutions  under  the  Sherman  Act  and  uncertainty  as  to 
legislation  by  Congress  are,  in  my  judgment,  the  causes  of  dis- 
turbed business  conditions.  Federal  incorporation  should  pro- 
vide for  examinations  by  representatives  of  the  government, 
just  as  national  banks  are  now,  and  along  similar  lines.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended,  providing  for  Federal  incor- 
poration for  all  corporations  doing  an  interstate  business.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

C.     H.     Eighmey,     President     First     National     Bank    of 
Dubuque,  Iowa. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies,  and  I 
favor  laws  for  the  government  regulation  of  capitalization 
and  for  the  creation  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  to 
permit  agreements  which  regulate  production,  etc.,  under  suit- 
able public  control,  and  to  provide  for  publicity,  as  applied  to 
commercial  corporations  engaged  in  interstate  commerce. 


253 

Edward  King,  President  of  the  National  Bank  of  Lawrence 
County ;  also  President  and  Treasurer  of  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Engineering  Works,  New  Castle,  Pa. 

I  have  never  seen  a  man  whom  I  thought  was  competent 
to  give  an  enlightened  opinion  on  the  causes  of  disturbances  in 
business.  I  suspect  there  are  several  causes.  A  friend  whis- 
pers in  my  ear  that  there  are  too  many  people  in  this  country 
who  are  non-producers,  getting  their  living  out  of  the  work 
of  others.  I  think  it  feasible  to  a  great  extent  to  return  to 
what  are  commonly  known  as  old  competitive  methods  in  busi- 
ness. I  think  that  railroads  .  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  and  that  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  law- 
ful. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

DeWitt  D.  Barlow,  Vice-President,  Atlantic  Gulf  and 
Pacific  Company,  New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  sufficiently  clear  and  workable;  hon- 
est compliance  is  not  difficult,  whereas  evasion  is.  It  should 
not  be  amended  as  yet.  Try  it  a  while  longer  in  the  light  of 
the  decisions.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  has  caused  disturbed 
business  conditions.  I  think,  however,  the  following  things  had 
little  or  nothing  to  do  with  it:  (a)  Eoosevelt;  (6)  the  Sher- 
man Law.  Contrariwise,  that  the  following  had  much  to  do 
with  it:  (a)  Increased  gold  production;  (&)  the  diminished 
and  diminishing  standard  of  thrift  throughout  the  country. 
The  last  affliction  goes  commonly  by  the  name  of  "high  cost 
of  living."  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.  M.  Holley,  President  State  Bank  of  La  Crosse,  La  Crosse, 
Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  amended  so  as  to  render  it 
definite  and  capable  of  clear  and  explicit  interpretation.  I  do 
not  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  unless  the  Sherman 
Act  can  be  so  altered  as  to  effect  the  same  end.  In  regard  to 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  I  think  I  should  prefer  to 
have  the  powers  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  so 
extended  as  to  do  the  work  that  would  be  done  by  a  Trade  Com- 
mission. Uncertainty  as  to  State  and  national  legislation  and 
the  demagogic  agitation  of  the  so-called  reformers  are  disturb- 
ing the  business  interests  of  the  country. 

B.  W.  Spencer,  President  People's  Bank  and  Trust  Com- 
pany, Passaic,  N.  J. 

I  am  heartily  in  favor  of  the  policy  and  program  of  our 
President,  William  H.  Taft,  and  believe  that  if  his  recommenda- 
tions are  carried  out  by  legislation,  the  country  will  be  greatly 
benefited  and  the  growth  of  socialism  checked. 


254 

C.  M.  Clark,  Treasurer  The  Bradstreet  Company,  etc.,  New 
York. 

Lack  of  confidence,  suits  by  the  government  and  uncertainty 
of  interpretations  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  iiicompetency  are 
causes  of  the  present  disturbed  business  conditions.  A  national 
incorporation  law  would  be  useless  as  long  as  States  exert  their 
individual  rights.  It  would  not  be  feasible  to  attempt  to  return 
to  old  competitive  methods.  Times  have  changed,  and  eco- 
nomic conditions  prevent.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
Law.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion. 

Fred  A.  Dexter,  President  Orange  National  Bank,  Presi- 
dent and  Treasurer  of  The  Leavitt  Machine  Com- 
pany, etc.,  Orange,  Mass. 

I  attribute  disturbed  business  conditions  to  the  bad  trusts 
who  have  not  squared  their  affairs  to  the  Sherman  Act  and  to 
interference  with  business  interests  by  men  of  small  principle 
and  smaller  abilities,  who  have  succeeded  in  getting  into  our 
legislative  halls.  A  national  incorporation  act  along  the  lines 
governing  corporations  in  Massachusetts  would  be  a  protection 
to  shareholders.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  work- 
able. But  additional  legislation  that  will  specify  in  a  reason- 
able way  what  constitutes  restraint  of  trade  might  help  matters. 

G.  L.  Watson,  Banking  and  Oil  Producer,  Parkersburg, 
W.  Va. 

The  trusts  and  extravagant  living  and  spending  of  money 
by  individuals  have  brought  about  any  disturbed  business  con- 
ditions that  exist.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and 
a  law  enacted  to  suit  present  conditions.  If  individual  effort 
and  industry  can  be  reached  in  no  other  way,  a  return  to  old 
competitive  methods  would  be  advisable.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

J.  A.  Cragin,  President  First  National  Bank,  Joplin,  Mo. 

Overcapitalization  largely — trying  to  earn  dividends  on  un- 
paid capital  stock,  commonly  called  water — is  responsible  in  no 
small  degree  for  such  disturbance  as  exists  in  business.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  such  manner  as  to  be 
plainly  understood,  doing  away  with  uncertainties.  Combina- 
tions of  farmers  should  be  permitted  under  the  Sherman  Act, 
and  railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 


255 

Chalmers    Curtis,   Vice-President   and    Cashier,   First   Na- 
tional Bank  of  Petoskey,  Petoskey,  Mich. 

I  think  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  can  make  the 
Sherman  Law  clear  and  workable.  I  do  not  consider  it  feasible 
to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  amended,  as  may  prove  to  be  needed.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law.  I  think  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  could  do  the  work  suggested  for  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Business  disturbance  is  due  to  "watered"  stock,, 
fake  stocks  sold  to  the  people  and  the  general  belief  that  the 
people's  interests  have  not  been  safeguarded  by  law.  The  gov- 
ernment should  most  decidedly  regulate  capitalization  and  pro- 
vide for  publicity  for  commercial  corporations. 

Charles   H.   Preston  President  of  Danvers  Savings  Bank 
(also  Farmer),  Danvers,  Mass. 

The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  doubtless  exist;  but  the  saving  in  many  cases  is  used  to 
pay  dividends  on  "  watered "  stock,  or  stock  representing  no 
property.  If  the  consumer  received  his  share  of  the  saving, 
there  would  be  less  complaint. 

I  favor  Federal  legislation  requiring  national  incorporation 
for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  business.  I  am  opposed  to 
holding  companies.  The  government  should  regulate  capitali- 
zation, and  laws  should  be  passed  applying  publicity  to  com- 
mercial corporations. 

William  H.  Sandford,  President  The  First  National  Bank, 
Patton,  Pa. 

Drastic  action  of  the  government  in  dealing  with  certain 
large  corporations;  uncertainty  on  the  part  of  business  men 
generally  as  to  the  effect  of  recent  decisions  regarding  the  Sher- 
man Law;  the  policy  of  labor  unions;  and  the  increased  cost 
of  living  are  all  factors  in  business  disturbance.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  system  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should  not 
be  repealed,  but  it  should  be  amended  to  create  a  commission 
with  power  to  regulate  and  limit  exce.ssive  profits  of  corpora- 
tions. 

John  T.  Mott,  President  First  National  Bank,  Oswego,  N.Y. 

I  favor  Federal  legislation  covering  national  incorporation 
for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  also  favor 
government  regulation  of  capitalization  and  publicity  for  com- 
mercial corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission 
and  Federal  license.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 


256 

Harry  Lee  Taft,  Banking,  Pearsons-Taft  Land  Credit  Com- 
pany, Chicago,  111. 

The  suspicions  aroused  in  the  minds  of  the  public;  the  un- 
certainty confronting  large  enterprises  as  to  just  what  may 
be  necessary  to  conform  to  the  spirit  of  the  law,  and  an  undue 
expansion  of  credits  have  caused  disturbed  business  conditions. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  so  clear  in  its  purposes 
and  requirements  as  to  need  no  outside  interpretation.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

W.  J.  Covil,  Lawyer  and  President  First  National  Bank, 
Webster  City,  Iowa. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable,  and  should  be 
amended  so  as  to  meet  modern  requirements  of  business  and 
remove  all  uncertainty.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  combinations  of  farmers 
should  be  permitted.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Present  disturbed 
business  conditions  are  due  to  too  much  political  agitation. 

J.  F.  Ebeling,  Cashier  Quarter  Savings  Bank,  Wheeling, 
W.  Va. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  too  much  "  water." 
Every  Tom-Dick-and-Harry  corporation  from  Wall  Street  down 
to  Wheeling  has  capitalized  its  future  earnings.  I  favor  Fed- 
eral license  for  corporations  engaged  in  interstate  commerce. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization.  I  also  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  and  laws  that  call  for  publicity 
applied  to  commercial  corporations.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Law 
as  clear  and  workable,  and  do  not  favor  its  amendment. 

L.  A.  Williamson,  President  Wells  County  Bank,  Bluffton, 
Ind. 

Trust  prosecutions  and  uncertainty  regarding  tariff  legisla- 
tion are  chief  causes  of  any  disturbance  that  now  exists  in  busi- 
ness. I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged 
in  interstate  commerce  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity 
should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations. 

T.  J.  Hansen,  Cashier,  The  Grand  Island  National  Bank, 
Grand  Island,  Neb. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable,  and  should  be 
amended  to  make  it  clear.  I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to 
return  to  old  competitive  methods.  1  favor  national  incorpo- 
ration and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Unfair  treatment 
of  the  trusts  or  large  combinations  is  the  chief  cause  of  present 
disturbed  business  conditions. 


257 

F.   S.  Jerome,  President  The  First   National  Bank,  Nor- 
wich, Conn. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  permit  any 
ordinary  business  understanding  its  intent.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Uncertainty  of  acts  of  the  present  administration,  and  con- 
sequent delay  and  confusion  to  general  business  in  connection 
with  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is  mainly  responsible 
for  business  disturbance. 

E.  Key,  President  First  National  Bank,  Marshall,  Tex. 

I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  It  should  re- 
ceive any  amendments  likely  to  make  it  a  more  workable  instru- 
ment. Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates  and  trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  Combinations  of  farmers,  either 
to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should 
not  be  lawful.  I  strongly  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  Federal  license,  and  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

I.  P.  Pardee,  President  Hazleton  National  Bank,  Hazleton, 

Pa. 

• 

I  believe  Federal  laws  should  be  enacted  to  prevent  restraint 
of  trade,  but  not  to  restrain  trade.  The  Sherman  Law  is  not 
clear  and  workable.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Ad- 
ditional legislation  is  needed  to  render  the  Sherman  Act  not 
so  entirely  destructive  of  all  large  business  and  corporations.  I 
believe  in  holding  companies  to  a  very  limited  extent,  regulated 
by  Federal  laws. 

J.  T.  Wettack,  President  First  National  Bank,  Coffeyville, 
Kan. 

Regulation  and  supervision  are  the  needs  of  the  hour.  Gov- 
ernment's effort  to  restore  competition  is  a  fraud  and,  while 
doing  injury  to  the  public,  is  of  no  service  whatever,  except 
to  lawyers  and  court  officers.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
repealed.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

C.  C.  Bloomfield,  President  Union  Bank,  Jackson,  Mich. 

I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate 
business.  Government  should  control  capitalization.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended  so  that  it  will  clearly  state  what 
it  means  and  does  not  mean,  thereby  doing  away  with  the 
present  uncertainty.  I  favor  national  incorporation  and  Federal 
license. 


R.  W.  Schmeer,  Cashier  United  States  National  Bank, 
Portland,  Ore. 

Laws  should  be  enacted  that  would  clearly  define  the  rights 
of  corporations  and  protect  the  people.  In  so  far  as  interference 
by  the  government  is  concerned,  it  should  be  of  the  least  pos- 
sible character.  I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  The  government  should  regu- 
late capitalization,  and  minority  stockholders  should  be  protected 
by  suitable  legislation  providing  for  publicity  of  corporate 
affairs. 

James  R.  Magoffin,  Banker,  New  York  City. 

I  am  an  individualist.  I  believe  in  a  representative  form 
of  government,  and  I  believe  in  a  low  tariff,  and  think  that  a 
substantial  reduction  in  the  tariff  would  counteract  difficulties 
arising  from  huge  combinations  of  capital.  Thus  deprived  of 
their  monopolistic  features  and  power  to  fix  prices,  we  would 
have  no  special  reason  to  fear  them.  I  do  not  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  With  competition  this  is  unneces- 
sary. Let  the  best  man  win. 

W.  L.  Threlkeld,  Cashier  Lexington  Banking  &  Trust 
Company,  Lexington,  Ky. 

I  favor  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment 
of  a  national  incorporation  law.  I  am  not  clear  as  to  Federal 
license  or  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  am  opposed  to 
holding  companies.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion only  in  connection  with  corporations  doing  an  interstate 
business.  State  regulations  should  provide  for  other  corpora- 
tions. 

C.  H.  Brownell,  Banking,  but  also  considerably  interested 
in  Manufacturing  and  Farming,  Citizens  National 
Bank,  Peru,  Ind. 

In  my  opinion,  the  fundamental  questions  to  be  settled  in 
this  country  relate  to  the  tariff  and  the  currency,  and  if  these 
were  properly  disposed  of,  most  of  the  other  questions  would 
answer  themselves,  and  any  additional  legislation  which  would 
be  necessary  would  be  very  simple. 

John  B.  Purcell,  President,  First  National  Bank,  Richmond, 
Va. 

I  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  and 
that  corporations  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  can  best  be 
regulated  by  a  system  analogous  to  that  by  which  the  national 
banks  of  the  United  States  are  now  controlled  and  regulated. 


259 

William  Houk,  President,  The  Conqueror  Trust  Company, 
Joplin,  Mo. 

Universal  mania  to  get  rich  quick;  overcapitalization  and 
stock  jobbing;  too  much  power  in  the  hands  of  a  very  few  men 
by  reason  of  excessive  wealth;  too  much  harassing  of  all  cor- 
porations ;  general  feeling  of  uncertainty  as  to  what  may  happen 
next,  and  a  determination  to  make  no  new  ventures  or  impor- 
tant investments — all  these  are  factors  in  creating  business  un- 
rest. Also  the  policy  of  the  railroads  and  other  great  corpora 
tions  in  making  no  improvements,,  extensions  or  betterments, 
not  absolutely  required,  tends  to  aggravate  disturbed  conditions 

Henry  C.  Fry,  President,  First  National  Bank,  and  Glass 
Manufacturer,  Rochester,  Pa. 

Want  of  good  business  judgment  in  national  legislation,  po- 
litical agitation,  newspaper  sensations  and  uncertainty  as  to  the 
political  character  of  the  next  administration,  as  well  as  the 
general  weakness  of  the  present  administration,  compared  with 
the  former  one,  are  the  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law. 
Except  in  some  large  corporations  there  has  been  no  change  in 
competition  in  business. 

Charles  C.  Haring,  President  Quakertown  National  Bank, 
Quakertown,  Pa. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business,  and  additional  legislation  giving  the  government 
control  over  large  combinations.  The  government  should  regu- 
late capitalization;  laws  should  be  passed  applying  publicity  to 
commercial  corporations.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made 
clear  in  its  terms.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

George  T.   Smith,  President  First  National  Bank,  Jersey 
City,  N.  J. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  the  whole 
people  may  be  able  to  recognize  and  understand  what  it  means 
to  each  and  every  one.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 
If  the  law  is  made  clear,  there  is  no  necessity  for  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  The  uncertainty  of  status  under  the  pres- 
ent law  is  the  cause  of  disturbed  business  conditions.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 

L.  A.  Bigger,  Dealer  in  Bonds,  Hutchinson,  Kans. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  The  fixed  price  of  gold  in  face  of  its  increased 
production  and  of  improved  methods  for  producing  it  is  one  of 
the  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions. 


260 

Blake  Bros.  &  Co.,  Bankers  and  Brokers,  Boston,  Mass. 

Too  much  money  tied  up  in  fixed  form  in  1907,  when  there 
had  also  been  too  rapid  expansion,  accounts  for  existing  disturb- 
ance in  business.  Becovery  from  the  effect  has  been  slow  and 
will  not  be  complete  till  the  business  men  of  the  country  are 
sure  where  they  stand  and  that  they  will  not  be  hurt.  Altered 
conditions,  due  to  sudden  and  ill-advised  legislation,  also  account 
for  much  of  the  disquietude  among  business  men.  I  favor  a 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  advocate  Federal  incorporation 
for  concerns  doing  an  interstate  business. 

George  S.  Macrum,  The  National  Bank  of  Western  Penn- 
sylvania, Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  world-wide  and  caused 
largely  by  the  transition  from  old  conditions  to  new;  by  poli- 
tics ;  by  social  and  other  influences.  Agitation  and  unwise  legis- 
lation have  had  an  irritating  effect  in  this  country.  I  favor  a 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  We  have  other  laws  that  cover 
anything  within  reason  that  it  does.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

Remsen    Rushmore,    President,    The    City    Savings    Bank, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Lack  of  positive  knowledge  by  large  business  interests  as 
to  whether  or  not  they  are  doing  business  legally  under  the 
Sherman  Law  is  the  cause  of  any  existing  disturbance  in  busi- 
ness. It  ought  not  to  be  difficult  to  pass  a  law  which  would 
send  a  criminal  to  prison,  without  also  ruining  a  corporation 
with  which  he  is  identified.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

C.  T.  Richardson,  Richardson,  Norton  &  Co.,  Brokers,  New 
York. 

I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  because  if 
it  were  repealed  something  worse  would  probably  take  its  place 
and  then  business  would  have  to  endure  more  years  of  uncer- 
tainty. I  do  not  favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law,  for  the 
present  at  least,  but  would  prefer  to  wait  and  see  what  the 
effect  of  the  Supreme  Court's  decision  would  be  on  the  large 
business  of  the  country. 

E.  H.  Coombs,  President,  Bank  of  the  Monongahela  Valley, 
Morgantown,  W.  Va. 

Business  disturbance  has  been  caused  by  the  action  of  the 
Federal  authorities  against  large  corporations  of  the  country. 
I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  railroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 


261 

Charles  H.  Patrick,  President  and  Treasurer,  but  retired 
from  active  business,  New  York  City. 

Present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  (1)  by 
lack  of  confidence;  (2)  extravagance;  (3)  Socialism;  (4) 
strikes.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable 
and  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  competitive  methods.  I 
do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  but  possibly  some 
amendment  might  be  desirable.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law,  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

Alfred  E.  Hamill,  Commercial  Paper,  Chicago,  111. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  largely  caused  by  over- 
expansion.  Our  railroads,  our  industrial  concerns  and  enter- 
prises of  all  sorts  are  trying  to  do  too  much  at  once.  We  are 
all  in  the  same  boat — individuals  as  well  as  corporations. 

In  my  opinion  certain  work  can  be  best  done  by  great  com- 
binations without  competition.  They  should,  however,  be  regu- 
lated. Combinations,  whether  of  capital  or  labor,  should  re- 
ceive similar  treatment.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

E.  W.  Bowen  &  Co.,  Bankers,  Delphi,  Ind. 

Extravagance  in  living  and  high  taxes  are  unsettling  busi- 
ness. The  middleman  is  also  a  factor.  Eggs  are  eggs  when 
delivered  in  an  auto  touring  car. 

*  The  people  are  buying  untaxable  bonds — city,  county,  state 
and  government — at  a  low  rate  of  interest,  in  order  to  avoid 
taxes,  making  the  balance  of  the  property  to  bear  all  the  bur- 
dens of  government.  This  is  bad,  and  creates  unrest  among 

i  IIP    ppoplo. 

E.  Keator,  President,  First  National  Bank,  Cbrtland,  N.  Y. 

Business  unrest  is  due  to  politics  and  sentiment.  About  so 
many  years  of  prosperity — then  there  grows  in  the  minds  of 
the  American  people  a  spirit  of  unrest.  Providence  has  blest 
this  country  in  every  way,  and  I  can  only  say  to  those  who  are 
dissatisfied,  "Have  faith!"  This  country  is  all  0.  K.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  corporations  can  un- 
derstand it  and  govern  themselves  accordingly. 

Herman  Engelbach,  President  First  National  Bank,  (also 
Lumber),  Arenzville,  111. 

Too  much  of  the  nation's  wealth  in  the  hands  of  Rocke- 
feller, Morgan  &  Company,  along  with  too  much  agitation 
of  the  "  direct  to  the  consumer"  problem,  are  the  causes  of  dis- 
turbed business  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be 
repealed.  If  amended,  it  should  be  made  fair  and  just.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law  and  Federal  license. 


262 

Fred  C.  McGill,  Cashier,  Oil  City  National  Biank,  Oil  City, 
Pa. 

I  favor  the  amendment  of  the  Sherman  Law  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  business  conditions  and  competitions  have  changed  ma- 
terially since  it  was  passed.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  We  need  a  central 
government  bank,  with  branches  capable  of  coping  with  the 
needs  of  each  district.  Overproduction,  high  tariffs,  extravagant 
living,  but  principally  unsound  currency  and  banking  laws  are 
the  causes  of  business  disturbance. 

Edward     Burns,      Vice-President,     American     Exchange 
National  Bank,  New  York. 

The  Sherman  Act  and  threatened  revision  of  the  tariff  are 
leading  factors  in  business  uneasiness.  The  great  mass  of  the 
business  of  the  country,  from  farming  up,  is  still  done  under 
old  competitive  methods  and  it  is  a  mistake,  therefore,  to  assume 
that  the  business  of  the  country  is  in  the  grasp  of  great  com- 
binations. The  Sherman  Law  should  have  a  thorough  trial, 
and  upon  the  result  of  that  trial  should  depend  future  legis- 
lation in  that  direction. 

Abram  M.  Hyatt,  Vice-President,  Lincoln  Trust  Company, 
New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  We  need  a 
national  incorporation  law  or  other  Federal  law,  making  clear 
as  to  how  business  in  a  large  way  should  be  carried  on.  I  pre- 
fer national  incorporation  to  Federal  license,  and  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  present  disturbed  conditions 
in  business  are  due  to  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  Sherman  Law 
and  the  desire  to  handle  business  in  a  large  way. 

Alexander  M.  Hudnut,  Broker  in  Stocks  and  Bonds,  New 
York  City. 

I  believe  in  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  and 
all  other  antiquated,  ambiguous  and  grotesque  laws  which  make 
the  United  States  commercially  the  laughing  stock  of  all  the 
nations  of  the  world.  If  we  have  laws  affecting  business,  let 
them  be  clear,  specific  and  definite,  impossible  to  be  miscon- 
strued or  misunderstood. 

A.  F.  Dawson,  President,  First  National  Bank,  Davenport, 
Iowa. 

Present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  too  much 
government  interference  with  business  and  too  much  doubt  re- 
garding the  interpretation  of  laws  which,  I  believe,  the  great 
majority  desire  to  obey.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  think  that  trade  unions 
should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 


263 

Leslie  M.  Shaw,  First  Mortgage  Guarantee  &  Trust  Com- 
pany, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

It  has  taken  twenty  years  to  get  the  Sherman  Law  to  its 
present  state  of  interpretation.  Why  amend,  repeal  it  or  do 
more  than  go  on?  It  has  never  failed  to  fit  the  case  yet  and 
it  will  not  fail.  I  believe  the  Sherman  Law  to  be  clear  and 
workable.  It  should  not  now  be  amended.  For  God's  sake, 
let  it  be  tested  out  as  now  interpreted  and  get  one  or  two  days' 
rest.  I  do  not  now  favor  a  national  incorporation  or  a  Federal 
license  law.  Give  us  a  rest! 

Thomas  Thorson,  President  First  National  Bank,  and  Re- 
publican National  Committeeman,  Canton,  South 
Dakota. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  as  fairly 
clear  and  workable.  I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  com- 
petitive methods  in  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  by  prison  sentences  for  violators.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. In  our  locality  a  shortage  of  crops  has  caused  what- 
ever disturbance  exists  in  business. 

C.  E.  Witmer,  First  National  Bank,  Greenville,  Pa. 

Excessive  prices  could  be  largely  regulated  by  adjustment 
of  the  tariff.  The  trusts  have  brought  themselves  into  their 
present  predicament  by  antagonizing  tariff  industries  and  piling 
up  large  earnings  principally  for  stock  manipulation.  If  they 
would  forget  the  stock  market  entirely,  the  consumer  would  have 
less  grounds  for  complaint.  The  government  should  have  super- 
vision over  corporations  dealing  in  commodities  regarded  as 
necessaries  of  life,  controlling,  say,  40  per  cent,  thereof. 

H.  P.  Dowling,  Vice-President,  The  Shelby  County  State 
Bank,  Harlan,  Iowa. 

I  think  the  Interstate  Commission,  with  full  powers  to  regu- 
late large  combinations  doing  interstate  business,  is  the  best 
method  of  solving  the  corporation  problem.  The  exploitation  of 
investors  through  overcapitalization  has  been  the  worst  evil. 
Large  combinations  are  necessary,  but  should  be  properly  regu- 
lated. 

John  Barbey,  President  Keystone  National  Bank,  Reading, 
Pa. 

I  favor  a  Federal  license  for  State  corporations  doing  an 
interstate  business.  The  Federal  license  should  not  conflict  with 
State  legislation.  I  believe  in  holding  companies.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  repealed,  but  if  it  remains  in  force,  trade  unions 
should  be  excepted  from  its  operation.  I  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 


264 

M.  B.  Wellborn,  President  First  National  Bank,  Anniston, 
Ala. 

There  is  nothing  especially  the  matter  with  business.  We 
have  always  had  dull  periods — this  is  simply  one  of  them. 
Every  one  is  employed,  and  the  people  are  doing  well.  I  regard 
the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  be 
excepted  from  the  Sherman  Act.  Combinations  of  farmers  also 
should  be  treated  as  lawful.  Let  the  producer  get  all  he  can. 

Paul   E.    Havens,   Leavenworth   National   Bank,   Leaven- 
worth,  Kan. 

Demagogues  who  are  inciting  a  spirit  of  unrest  and  preju- 
dice against  all  combinations  of  capital,  and  who  are  thereby 
promoting  the  growth  of  socialism,  are  in  a  large  degree  re- 
sponsible for  existing  dissatisfaction.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
have  provisions  made  so  definite  that  judicial  action  would  be 
unnecessary  in  determining  what  combinations  are  harmful  and 
what  are  beneficial  to  the  general  public. 

Wirt  Wright,  President,  The  National  Stockyards  National 
Bank,  National  Stockyards,  111. 

Uncertainty  as  to  tariff  legislation  and  as  to  their  legal 
status  under  the  Sherman  Act  keeps  business  enterprises  in 
an  unsettled  condition.  Another  cause  of  disturbance  is  that  po- 
litical conditions  abroad  are  also  unsettled,  thereby  interfering 
with  the  export  trade.  Federal  incorporation  and  supervision 
of  enterprises  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  ought  to  be  sub- 
stituted for  the  Sherman  Law. 

Samuel  M.  Smith,  Merchants  and  Savings  Bank,  Janesville, 
Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  more  definite  so  as  not 
to  leave  the  application  of  it  to  be  based  on  a  "  rule  of  reason  " 
of  the  Supreme  Court.  This  makes  too  much  uncertainty  for 
business  to  take  in  consideration.  Publicity  of  public  corpora- 
tions is  a  good  thing,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  also  that  a 
national  incorporation  law  would  help  to  put  matters  right.  I 
am  not  in  favor  of  any  more  commissions. 

Wm.    L.   Baker,   Minnehaha   National   Bank,   Sioux   Falls, 
S.  D. 

I  am  in  favor  of  giving  the  government  more  control,  with- 
in reason,  of  the  affairs  of  corporations.  At  the  same  time,  I 
am  fully  alive  to  the  bad  results  of  agitation  by  politicians  with 
a  view  only  to  their  personal  aggrandizement.  There  should 
be  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers  not  unlike 
those  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 


265 

P.  Henry  Woodward,  President  Dime  Savings  Bank,  Vice- 
President,  Connecticut  General  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany, Hartford,  Conn. 

A  good  deal  of  our  trouble  has  come  from  the  rivalry  of 
States  (for  revenue  purposes)  in  chartering  corporations  with 
the  privilege  of  defying  the  laws  of  other  States  and  otherwise 
performing  acts  which  offend  our  sense  of  right  and  justice. 
Whence  can  come  deliverance?  Quis  custodes  custodiet?  Who 
shall  watch  the  watchmen?  Will  politicians  acting  from  Wash- 
ington be  any  better  than  those  acting  from  Trenton  or  Albany  ? 
Can  our  complex  natures  be  radically  changed  by  law? 

The    American    Trust    and    Savings    Company,    Bankers, 
N.  H.  Fairbanks,  Pres.,  Springfield,  Ohio. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  attacks  by  dema- 
gogues, yellow  journals  and  political  jackasses  on  large  and  suc- 
cessfully conducted  corporate  businesses;  the  preaching  to  the 
unfortunate  and  unsuccessful  about  fancied  wrongs  inflicted 
by  the  successful  man  or  large  business  corporation  upon  them ; 
the  wild  preachings  by  Socialists  to  the  laborers  and  unem- 
ployed. An  army  of  these  preachers  are  found  every  night 
upon  the  streets  of  the  cities  and  towns  throughout  the  country. 

Frank  Bailey,  Vice-President  Title  Guarantee  and  Trust 
Company,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  but  if  not  repealed, 
it  ought  to  be  amended  so  it  can  be  understood. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license 
law. 

Political  agitation  is  the  chief  cause  of  the  present  disturb- 
ance. 

N.  W.  Harris,  President,  Harris  Trust  &  Savings  Bank, 
Chicago,  111. 

The  large  corporations  have  known  the  conditions  of  the 
Sherman  Law,  and  the  Supreme  Court  decisions  are  not  im- 
posing heavy  fines  or  taking  away  property  from  them  for  vio- 
lation, and  in  fact  are  treating  them  more  lightly  than  is  usually 
the  case  where  the  laws  of  the  country  are  violated,  and  espec- 
ially is  this  the  case  of  the  Tobacco  Trust. 

Walter  S.  Reed,  Vice-President  and  Cashier,  First  National 
Bank,  Corning,  N.  Y. 

Too  many  laws;  too  many  investigations,  so-called;  too 
much  uncertainty  as  to  what  is  lawful  and  as  to  what  the 
future  may  bring  about,  are  the  causes  of  business  unrest. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  less  radical  and  should  ex- 
plain what  business  may  do  and  may  not  do.  I  am  in  favor 
of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


266 

Geo.  W.  Burton,  President  National  Bank  of  La  Crosse, 
La  Crosse,  Wis. 

Causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions : 

1.  Tariff  agitation. 

2.  Uncertainty  as  to  what  big  business  may  or  may  not 
do  lawfully. 

3.  A  spirit  of  unrest    which    manifests    itself    in    labor 
troubles,  the  activity  of  agitators,  and  the  eagerness  of  pseudo- 
reformers  to  get  into  the  limelight. 

The  great  need  of  the  American  people  to-day  is  a  large 
dose  of  the  plain  horse-sense  which  distinguished  our  forefathers. 

Jerome  Tourtellotte,  Treasurer,  Putnam  Savings  Bank,  Put- 
nam, Conn. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  extravagance 
and  investment  in  fake  enterprises  by  poor  people,  mainly. 

The  Congressmen,  as  statesmen,  at  the  time  of  the  passage 
of  the  Sherman  Act,  were  the  peers  of  like  men  in  the  present 
day  and  age.  Their  acumen  for  weighing  the  intricacy  of 
law  and  the  selfishness  of  human  nature  was  above  par.  Their 
ability  to  see  into  the  future  was  above  par.  If  the  teeth  are 
allowed  to  be  withdrawn  from  that  act,  the  confusion  will  be 
doubled  and  the  unrest  also. 

Ambrose  Cramer,  Banking,  etc.,  Chicago,  111. 

Enforcement  of  the  Sherman  Law;  suits  brought  for  po- 
litical purposes;  attacks  upon  corporations;  national,  State 
and  municipal  non-business  men  attempting  to  legislate  busi- 
ness; the  tariff,  fear  of  the  growing  craze  for  change,  and  its 
effect  upon  investments,  all  tend  to  unsettle  business  condi- 
tions. We  need  constructive  laws,  a  law  that  defines  a  well 
adopted,  honest  corporation  from  a  dishonest  one,  and  that 
would  secure  a  square  deal  for  labor  and  property. 

A.  Goepel,  President,  Germania  Savings  Bank,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y. 

Uncertainty  as  to  what,  or  who  next,  is  disturbing  the  busi- 
ness of  the  country.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law, 
but  if  it  is  to  be  amended,.  I  would  refer  to  the  German  law 
"  against  indecent  competition  in  business."  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  Federal  license  law. 

F.  Ernest  Cramer,  President,  Broadway  National  Bank,  St. 
Louis,  Mo. 

The  present  policy  of  unreasonably  harassing  almost  every 
Large  business  enterprise  by  continued  governmental  prosecu- 
tion is  most  disturbing  to  business.  I  do  not  favor  a  repeal 
of  the  Sherman  Law,  which  I  regard,  as  now  interpreted,  as 
being  clear  and  workable. 


267 

Emerson  Chamberlin,  Retired  Member  of  the  Stock  Ex- 
change, New  York  City. 

Uncertainty  in  regard  to  the  Sherman  Law  is  the  principal 
cause  of  business  disturbance.  There  are  also  many  others. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed.  The 
railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade 
unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sher- 
man Act.  They  are  the  worst  combinations. 

H.    C.    Perrine,    President,    First    National    Bank,    South 
Amboy,  N.  J. 

It  would  seem  to  me  best  that  no  limit  should  be  placed 
on  the  holdings  or  manner  of  doing  business  by  individuals. 
Whether  an  individual  should  or  should  not  sell,  should  not  be 
compulsory. 

If  there  were  no  trusts  or  illegal  combinations  there  would 
be  plenty  of  competition.  We  should  have  a  law  allowing  any 
individuals  or  companies  to  build  parallel  and  competing  lines 
to  any  extent  that  the  projectors  thought  best. 

John  T.  Manson,  President  The  Yale  National  Bank,  New 
Haven,  Conn. 

Suits  under  the  Sherman  Law,  political  agitation  and  fear 
of  tariff  changes  are  the  disturbing  elements  in  business.  The 
Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable  and  ought  to  be 
amended,  but  not  repealed.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission.  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Harry  H.   Zobel,   Secretary,   Zobel  Investment   Company, 
Alameda,  Cal. 

Concentration  of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a  small  number  of 
irresponsible  men  is  the  cause  of  business  disturbance.  Thn 
country  needs  a  change  of  administration.  The  Sherman  Law 
ought  to  be  amended  to  enable  the  Federal  Government  to  have 
clearer  supervision  of  all  corporations  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

A.  G.  Kendall,  Farmers  Exchange  National  Bank,  San  Ber- 
nardino, Cal. 

Agitation  consequent  upon  the  Sherman  Law,  which,  it 
seems,  cannot  be  avoided,  is  mainly  responsible  for  business  dis- 
turbance. We  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable. 
Combinations  of  farmers  should  be  regarded  as  lawful.  We 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  As  for  Federal  license,  it 
should  be  used  only  for  registration. 


268 

S.  F.  Estabrook,  Banker,  Boston,  Mass. 

In  my  judgment  the  average  business  man  is  afraid  to  do 
anything  for  fear  he  will  be  sued  and  arrested  and  possibly  put 
in  jail.  Almost  all  of  our  business  men  are  square  and  honest. 
Somebody  must  tell  us  just  what  we  can  do.  and  keep  within 
the  law,  and  the  government  officials  must  stop  threatening 
everybody.  They  talk  too  much.  When  a  man  or  corporation 
does  go  wrong,  go  for  them,  but  don't  threaten  anybody  and 
everything.  That's  what  has  undermined  business. 

J.  W.  Pero,  President,  Colonial  Savings  Bank  and  Trust 
Company,  Fremont,  Ohio. 

The  business  of  the  country  and  its  currency  system  have 
been  made  the  football  of  demagogues  and  politicians  to  such 
an  extent  that  a  person  with  any  means  is  foolish  to  risk  his 
money  in  any  public  utility  or  industrial  enterprise,  while  the 
younger  generation  is  growing  into  maturity  with  the  ideas  that 
some  one  owes  them  a  living  whether  they  work  for  it  intelli- 
gently and  faithfully,  or  listen  to  the  demagogues  and  try  to 
live  by  their  wits. 

William  G.  Willcox,  Insurance,  New  York. 

What  caused  or  causes  the  present  disturbed  business  con- 
ditions ? 

Primarily  the  monopoly  of  land  and  other  natural  resources 
giving  their  owners  an  unfair  proportion  of  the  products  of  in- 
dustry, and  alteration  of  standard  of  value  due  to  increased  gold 
supply,  causing  increased  cost  of  living  and  general  unrest. 

Crude  and  unwise  attempts  to  control  business  by  legisla- 
tion (mainly  obstructive  rather  than  constructive),  and  an  era 
of  private  extravagance  may  be  mentioned  as  secondary  causes. 

Waldo    Newcomer,    President,    National    Exchange    Bank, 
Baltimore,  Md. 

We  attempted  to  recover  too  rapidly  after  the  panic  of  1907, 
and  have  a  natural  setback.  On  top  of  it  came  attacks  on  big 
corporations  under  the  Sherman  Act,  with  little  knowledge  on 
the  part  of  either  the  government  or  the  corporations  as  to 
what  was  legal  or  illegal,  even  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
being  in  doubt.  A  terrible  growth  of  socialistic  sentiment  and 
labor  unrest  have  made  conditions  more  serious. 

W.  H.  Purnell,  Cashier,  First  National  Bank,  Kenosha,  Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  clear  the  con- 
ditions under  which  business  men  may  operate,  especially  those 
who  are  engaged  in  large  corporations,  and  to  remove  the  dis- 
couragement which  now  rests  upon  many  honorable  men  in 
business.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


269 

Eugene  Levering,  National  Bank  of  Commerce,  Baltimore, 
Md. 

Present  business  disturbance  is  a  natural  and  hopeful  revul- 
sion of  the  country  at  large  from  the  "  high  finance  "  methods 
practiced  by  many  of  our  large  industrial  and  railroad  corpora- 
tions. As  "  nothing  is  settled  until  it  is  settled  right/7  so  the 
"  so-called  "  present  disturbed  business  conditions  will  continue, 
varying  in  phase  and  times,  of  course,  until  the  rights  of  the 
individual  are  by  law  fully  protected  against  the  heretofore 
growing  power,  often  legalized,  and  greed  of  our  large  corpora- 
tions. 

C.  E,  Layman,  Broker,  Troutville,  Va. 

The  attempt  of  the  government  to  regulate  large  corpora- 
tions which  had  heretofore  conducted  their  business  with  com- 
parative immunity  from  interference  is  responsible,  in  a  great 
degree,  for  existing  uncertainty.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  amended  so  as  to  make  it  clearer ;  to  cut  out  the  "  unreason- 
able" feature  and  to  make  it  possible  for  the  authorities  to 
prosecute  prominent  offenders,  the  same  as  any  other  violators 
of  the  law. 

A  New  York  Trust  Company. 

We  do  not  regard  business  as  very  much  disturbed.  The 
causes  of  such  unrest  as  exists  are  principally  economic,  i.  e., 
extravagance  of  government  (pensions,  navy,  commissions,  bu- 
reaus, etc.)  and  extravagance,  also,  on  the  part  of  States,  mu- 
nicipalities and  individuals.  Also  within  recent  months  the 
critical  period  in  the  disposition  of  the  Oil  and  Tobacco  cases, 
the  starting  of  the  Steel  suit,  and  the  increasing  tendency  to 
throw  "  big  business  "  into  politics. 

William    C.    Heppenheimer,    President    The    Bergen    and 
Lafayette  Trust  Company,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

Politics,  and  politics  only,  is  the  cause  of  business  disturb- 
ance. This  country  has  grown  great,  in  spite  of  the  politician, 
and  not  because  of  him.  Leave  business  men  alone.  If  Con- 
gress and  the  State  Legislatures  would  only  adjourn  for  two 
years,  we  would  have  the  greatest  business  revival  this  country 
has  ever  seen.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

F.  E.  Burgess,  President,  Howard  National  Bank,  Burling- 
ton, Vt. 

Too  much  talk  about  what  is  going  to  be  done  to  the  cor- 
porations, but  which  either  is  not  or  cannot  be  done,  and  tpo 
much  politics  are  disturbing  factors  in  the  business  situation. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  plain  enough  for  all  to  un- 
derstand it.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 


270 

Elbridge  G.  Snow,  President  Home  Insurance  Company, 
New  York. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  either  be  repealed  or  amended. 
If  amended,,  it  should  define  the  extent  of  lawful  restraint, 
which  at  present  seems  to  be  unknown,  until  defined  in  indi- 
vidual cases  by  the  courts.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  There  should  be  no  privileged  class  and, 
therefore,  no  exemption  for  trade  unions  or  farmers. 

Thomas  F.  Balfe,  President,  Newburgh  Savings  Bank,  New- 
burgh,  N.  Y. 

Too  much  interference  with  large  corporations  by  the  attor- 
ney general  and  the  probability  of  legislation  seriously  affect- 
ing the  tariff  are  the  principal  causes  of  business  apprehension. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Eail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

Harold  W.  Stevens,  President  Hartford  National  Bank, 
Hartford,  Conn. 

Business  disturbance  is  largely  due  to  "  social  evolution," 
analogous  to  "growing  pains."  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  to  make  it,  at  least,  impossible  for  any  corporation 
to  issue  stock  otherwise  than  for  cash  (money)  or  actual  prop- 
erty— no  "good  will."  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates.  As  at  present  devised,  I  favor 
national  incorporation.  Am  opposed  to  holding  companies. 

Walston  H.  Brown,  Walston  H.  Brown  &  Bros.,  Brokers, 
New  York  City. 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law  can  be  made  ap- 
plicable to  present  conditions;  therefore  I  favor  its  repeal  and 
the  passage  of  an  act  similar  to  the  English  or  German  law 
governing  corporations.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission. 

Walter  J.  Burns,  Resident  Partner,  Balfour,  Guthrie  &  Co., 
General  Shipping  Merchants,  Portland,  Ore.;  also 
San  Francisco,  Seattle,  etc. 

The  uncertainty  regarding  the  interpretation  that  will  be 
put  on  the  present  laws  causes  business  inquietude.  The  main 
cause  of  combinations  is  the  tariff.  Modify  it  whenever  com- 
binations become  noticeably  powerful.  I  am  for  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


271 

Seymour  Coman,  Coman,  Lanquist  &  Co.,  Bankers,  Chi- 
cago, 111. 

Eoosevelt's  recent  article  in  the  Outlook  was  on  the  right 
track,  in  my  opinion.  The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  enough  so. 
that  aggregators  of  capital  can  keep  out  of  trouble  if  they 
wish.  At  the  same  time,  it  can  be  made  more  workable  by 
defining  what  they  can  do.  The  law  should  not  be  repealed 
unless  something  better  can  be  secured  along  the  same  general 
lines. 

Herbert  A.  Rhoades,  President  Dorchester  Trust  Company, 
Boston,  Mass. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  and  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  also  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion with  powers  not  unlike  those  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

M.  A.  O.  Packard,  President  First  National  Bank,  Plym- 
outh, Ind. 

The  causes  of  present  disturbance  in  business  are,  first  and 
chiefly,  the  interminable  strife  kept  up  by  labor  unions — most 
of  them  lawless — and  the  oppressing  onslaught  on  business  by 
the  government  and  its  representatives. 

R.  H.  Ensign,  Investor,  Simsbury,  Conn. 

Largely  trust  suits  under  the  Sherman  Law  are  responsible 
for  business  uncertainty. 

Modern  conditions  have  made  large  business  necessary.  The 
big  corporations  should  have  a  square  deal.  I  see  nothing  but 
harm  for  all  classes,  except  lawyers,  in  the  Sherman  Law. 

Thos.  W.  Barrett,  Treasurer,  Poughkeepsie  Trust  Company, 
Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  the  National  Civic  Federation  should 
look  well  into  conditions  now  existing  in  Germany  and  France, 
where,  I  understand,  they  encourage  the  forming  of  great  com- 
binations in  business  and  then  foster  and  control  the  same. 

Willis  C.  Allen,  Mortgage  Investments,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

The  profits  of  all  corporations  controlling  necessities,  such 
as  transportation,  water,  gas,  coal,  meats,  bread-stuffs,  should 
be  limited  to  a  liberal  return  on  the  actual  investment,  with 
ample  provision  for  depreciations.  The  tariff  and  lack  of  con- 
fidence in  the  courts  are  the  main  causes  of  business  unrest. 

Wm.  J.  Lovejoy,  Treasurer,  Fulton  Savings  Bank,  Fulton, 
N.  Y.    ' 

Many  causes  might  be  quoted  as  leading  to  the  present  dis- 
turbed business  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear 
and  workable.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


272 

L.  G.  Worden,  President  First  National  Bank,  Merced,  Cal. 

Business  conditions  are  exceedingly  good  here,  could  not  be 
better.  I  believe  that  corporations  should  be  under  Federal 
supervision  and  unlawful  competition  stopped.  I  believe  in  hold- 
ing companies  under  proper  restriction  and  supervision.  I  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  as  well  as  a  national  'incor- 
poration law. 

Harold  Hardinge,   Vice  President  and   Cashier,  Patapsco 
National  Bank,  Ellicott   City,  Md. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  more  'explicit.  Kail- 
roads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Uncertainty 
in  regard  to  court  decisions  bearing  on  the  Sherman  Act  are 
causing  hesitancy  among  business  men. 

E.  Baumeister,  of  E.  Baumeister  &  Co.,  Bankers,  Asotin, 
Wash. 

Too  many  demagogues  in  politics  are  causing  such  business 
disturbance  as  there  is.  The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  work- 
able, and  should  be  neither  repealed  nor  amended  for  the  pres- 
ent. Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

John  Q.  Lewis,  Banker,  Clinton,  111. 

There  has  been  too  much  agitation;  too  much  injection  of 
selfish  political  activity  and  demagogism  for  the  good  of  the 
country,  and  if  business  is  to  prosper,  every  citizen  should  rise 
to  the  level  of  patriotism  and  rebuke  the  agitators  and  selfish 
politicians. 

J.  J.   Mitchell,  President  Illinois  Trust  &  Savings  Bank, 
Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  some  good  features,  but  has  not  yet 
been  made  clear  and  workable.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission. 

Edwin  R.  Fay  &  Sons,  Bankers,  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

We  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  enactment  of  a  na- 
tional incorporation  law  if  that  will  insure  once  more  business 
confidence.  The  present  business  disturbance  is  due  to  political 
interference  with  business. 

I.  O.  Wood,  President,  City  National  Bank,  Goshen,  Ind. 

I  am  in  favor  of  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the 
enactment  of  a  new  law,  the  provisions  of  which  a  layman  may 
be  able  to  understand.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  wiped  off 
the  statute  books. 


273 

W.  W.  Morrison,  President,  The  Continental  Trust  &  Sav- 
ings Bank  Company,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

Business  is  disturbed  by  too  much  regulation  without  proper 
consideration  of  the  difference  between  regulation  and  destruc- 
tion. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  make  it 
possible  to  do  business,  or  else  it  should  be  repealed.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law. 

Dudley  Olcott,  President  Mechanics'  and  Farmers'  Bank, 
Albany,  N.  Y. 

The  bad  judgment  and  unnecessary  harshness  of  Mr.  Wick- 
ersham  are  largely  responsible  for  present  disturbed  business 
conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  either  repealed  or 
amended.  I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Everett  L.  Smith,  Cashier,  National  Shoe  and  Leather  Bank 
of  Auburn,  Me. 

Don't  give  us  any  more  "  commissions."  Give  business  a 
chance!  There  has  been  too  much  so-called  government  regu- 
lation by  officials  without  business  qualifications  or  experi- 
ence, their  object  being  political  effect.  We  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law. 

Edwin  A.  Potter,  Banker,  American  Trust  Bank  Building, 
Chicago,  111. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  am  opposed  to 
a  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  The  railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

T.  Jefferson  Coolidge,  Jr.,  President  Bay  State  Trust  Co., 
Boston,   Mass. 

Many  different  causes  have  led  to  present  business  uncer- 
tainty, which  will  soon  pass  away.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  made  clearer  and  more  easily  enforcible.  We  should  have 
either  a  national  incorporation  law  or  Federal  license. 

Perry  P.  Williams,  Freight  Broker,  New  York  City. 

The  present  conditions  are  not  seriously  disturbed  except 
for  corporations  in  fear  of  dissolution  for  unfair  methods.  Busi- 
ness seems  generally  good.  Exports  large.  Money  not  yet  cheap 
enough  to  invite  big  speculation. 

A.    F.   Vance,   Jr.,   President,   National   Bank  of   Urbana, 
Urbana,  Ohio. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  Congress.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  ordinary  people  can 
understand  it. 


274 

C.  E.  Floete,  President,  Armour  State  Bank,  Armour,  S.  D. 

What  has  caused  disturbed  business  conditions?  Taft  and 
Wickersham  jumping  on  all  business  undertakings.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended  so  that  a  man  can  tell  what  it 
means  without  having  to  take  it  to  a  court  to  construe  it,  the 
court  possibly  making  it  mean  what  Congress  never  intended 
it  to. 

A.  O.  Paunack,  Cashier,  The  Commercial  National  Bank, 
Madison,  Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  amended  so  that  it  can  be 
interpreted  by  business  men  without  having  to  pay  fortunes  in 
fees  to  high  priced  counsel.  Othenvise  the  law  should  be  re- 
pealed. 

G.  W.  Dunton,  President  Sycamore  National  Bank,  Syca- 
more, 111. 

Our  laws  should  be  such  as  to  promote  the  utmost  stability 
in  market  values  of  stocks  and  bonds  of  large  corporations,  and 
thereby  encourage  the  widest  possible  distribution  of  the  owner- 
ship of  such  corporations  among  the  common  people. 

E.  L.  Rogers,  Rogers  &  Gould,  Bankers  &  Brokers,  New 
York. 

I  favor  the  adoption  of  the  so-called  Aldrich  currency  plan; 
the  passage  of  a  low  tariff  bill  and  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
Anti-Trust  Law,  so  that  the  business  of  the  country  may  pro- 
ceed. 

The  Union  Trust  Company,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Inflation,  extravagance,  uncertainty  on  account  of  undefined 
laws,  and  fear  of  trouble  that  may  follow  the  action  of  the  gov- 
ernment and  the  interpretation  by  the  courts  are  causes  of  pres- 
ent disturbance. 

Frank   H.    Denman,   President   The   Sonoma   County   Na- 
tional Bank,  Petaluma,  Cal. 

I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  com- 
merce. I  believe  in  holding  companies  and  in  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

State  Banking  and  Trust  Company,  Sioux  Falls,  S.  D. 

Too  much  agitation  is  the  cause  of  existing  business  uncer- 
tainty. The  laws  should  be  clearly  understood  and  equitably 
enforced. 

A.  W.  Mullins,  Banker,  Linneus,  Mo. 

The  "  West "  generally  has  no  disturbed  business  conditions. 


275 

Hugh  Henry,  Lawyer  and  President  of  National  Bank  of 
Bellows  Falls,  Vt.,  Chester,  Vt. 

What  caused  or  causes  the  present  disturbed  business  con- 
ditions? Theodore  Roosevelt,,  more  than  all  other  causes  com- 
bined. 

Robert  E.  Gillespie,  President,  Illinois  State  Trust  Com- 
pany, East  St.  Louis,  111. 

Loafers,,  politicians  and  agitators,  too  many  laws  and  law- 
makers have  caused  the  present  disturbed  conditions.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  made  clear,,  so  that  business  men  can  ad- 
just their  affairs  in  conformity  thereto. 

Louis  Windmuller,  Banker,  Insurance,  etc.,  New  York. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable,  and  we  favor 
a  sensible  modification  of  the  same. 


Chapter    III. 


MERCHANTS. 


Robert  C.  Ogden,  Retired  Retail  Merchant,  125  East  s6th 
Street,  New  York  City. 

"  Doubt,  uncertainty,  antagonism  of  the  Federal  government, 
agitation  by  demagogues  willing  to  sacrifice  public  interests  for 
private  advantage,  all  tend  to  disturb  business. 

"  Some  authority  is  needed  to  interpret  the  law  to  honest 
business  men;  to  render  co-operation  possible;  to  combine  in- 
dustrial partnership  with  co-operation;  to  recognize  the  moral 
equity  of  the  wage-earner  in  the  profits  of  his  work.  Capital 
is  and  should  be  protected;  managing  ability  should  be  re- 
warded ;  the  working  man  has  not  yet  had  his  hour." 

Mr.  Ogden  is  in  favor  of  a  national  incorporation  act,  a 
Federal  license  act,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  "to 
help  the  honest — to  restrain  the  dishonest."  He  favors  repeal 
of  the  Sherman  Law,  and  says  that  "  old  competitive  methods 
belong  to  a  dead  past." 

Albert  A.  Sprague,  President  of  Sprague,  Warner  &  Co., 
Wholesale  Grocers,  Chicago,  111. 

Commercial  corporations  have  been  the  chief  factors  in  the 
growth  and  development  of  the  country,  and  at  the  same  time, 
almost  without  exception,  they  have  reduced  costs  to  the  con- 
sumer. As  such  they  should  be  fostered  and  encouraged  by  the 
same  protection  and  given  the  same  rights  as  are  granted  to  the 
individual  or  the  copartnership  in  the  same  kind  of  business. 

Indiscriminate  public  antagonism  to  corporations,  fostered 
by  an  indiscriminate  press  and  self-seeking  politicians;  uncer- 
tainty as  to  the  scope  of  the  Anti-Trust  Act,  and  agitation  and 
uncertainty  regarding  tariff  action  and  anti-trust  legislation  on 
the  part  of  the  Congress  tend  to  hamper  enterprise  and  to  keep 
business  unsettled.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  or 
supplemented,  so  that  an  intelligent  public  can  understand  it 
and  know  definitely  what  is  a  reasonable  and  what  an  unreason- 
able "  restraint  of  trade."  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law,  if  it  does  not  duplicate  the  expense  and  is  not  in  con- 
flict with  State  incorporation.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission,  with  limitations.  It  would  be  absurd  to  give  the 
government  the  power  to  fix  prices  on  merchandise. 

276 


277 

A.  C.  Bartlett,  President  of  Hibbard  Spencer,  Bartlett  & 
Co.,  Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  will  never  be  satisfactorily  workable 
until  the  necessity  for  determining  the  legal  status  of  each 
individual  case  by  submission  to  the  courts  is  eliminated.  If 
aggregations  of  capital  to  an  unlimited  extent  are  to  be  permit- 
ted— as  they  must  be  under  present  conditions — stifling  of  legiti- 
mate competition  must  be  prohibited,  but  the  old  competitive 
methods  would  prove  ruinous  to  any  enterprises  not  employing 
immense  capital. 

I  would  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  limita- 
tions. No  trade  commission  could  successfully  fix  the  prices 
upon  all  manufactured  articles  from  knitting  pins  to  ocean 
liners;  nor  could  it  intelligently  or  satisfactorily  fix  any  prices. 
The  present  disturbance  is  due  to  a  combination  of  past  extrav- 
agance, doubt  regarding  the  disposition  of  the  government 
(Federal  and  State)  toward  so-called  trusts,  the  usual  dullness 
which  precedes  a  presidential  election,  aggravated  at  this  time 
by  extraordinary  political  disturbance,  and  a  general  reaction 
from  an  extended  period  of  prosperity. 

A.  E.  Starr,  Merchant,  Zanesville,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  big  business 
may  understand  what  they  may  do,  as  well  as  what  they  may  not 
do.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  but  only  to  secure  uni- 
formity among  the  States.  The  revenue  should  be  collected  by 
the  several  States.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 
not  for  interference  with  trade,  but  to  supervise  methods,  correct 
abuses  and  prosecute  those  who  violate  the  laws. 

Causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  are,  too  many  elec- 
tions; too  much  law-making;  excessive  taxation — all  of  which 
is  reflected  in  the  high  cost  of  living,  which  is  producing  na- 
tional unrest.  Another  cause  is  overexpansion  along  all  lines 
and  an  insufficient  amount  of  money,  both  real  and  credit,  to 
take  care  of  it.  We  have  not  yet  emerged  from  the  troubles  of 
1906,  1907  and  1908.  We  are  convalescing  and  will  be  fortu- 
nate if  we  pull  through  without  a  relapse.  The  business  people 
know  these  facts  and  have  decided  to  wait.  Yes,  that's  it,  wait- 
ing. That's  the  underlying  cause. 

I  believe  in  laws  that  call  for  publicity  where  the  stocks  or 
bonds  are  dealt  in  on  the  open  market  or  by  banks  or  brokers, 
or  where  the  people  generally  are  trading  and  have  a  right  to 
know  the  workings  of  the  business,  particularly  in  the  case  of 
railroads  or  large  commercial  institutions;  but  in  the  case  of 
close  corporations,  usually  small  businesses,  owned  by  families 
or  friends,  where  seldom,  if  ever,  the  stock  changes  hands — 
in  the  case  of  such  corporations  I  don't  believe  publicity  does 
any  good.  Neither  should  a  business  conducting  interstate  com- 
merce be  exempt  from  publicity  simply  because  it  may  not  be 
incorporated,  where  corporations  similarly  situated  are  not 
exempt. 


278 

E,  H.  Outerbridge,  Harvey  &  Outerbridge,  Shipping  and 
Commission  Merchants,  New  York. 

I  do  not  believe  the  Sherman  Law  as  now  interpreted  is 
sufficiently  clear  and  workable.,  as  many  of  the  ablest  lawyers 
in  the  country  seem  to  disagree  as  to  its  interpretation  and  ap- 
plication, and  to  the  lay  minds  of  business  men  and  corpora- 
tion officers  it  is  still  an  enigma.  Possibly  some  working  for- 
mula may  be  developed  under  it  after  the  Supreme  Court  has 
ruled  on  more  cases  than  have  yet  been  decided,  but  the  uncer- 
tainty and  delay,  with  the  disturbing  factor  of  the  prosecutions, 
would  be  a  very  expensive  way  to  trade  and  commerce  in  arriv- 
ing at  the  formula. 

I  presume  if  accurate  statistics  could  be  arrived  at  it  would 
be  found  that  at  least  90  per  cent,  of  all  the  business  of  the 
country  is  still  done  under  free  and  competitive  methods,  and 
I  think  it  would  be  bold  to  say,  in  the  light  of  this  assumption, 
that  business  cannot  be  safely  and  satisfactorily  carried  on  in 
that  manner.  If  the  immoral  and  illegal  elements  heretofore 
practiced  in  open  competition  to  secure  advantages  and  crush 
rivals,  could  be  provided  against,  I  think  competitive  methods 
would  be  the  most  stimulating  and  best  for  the  conduct  of  the 
general  business  of  manufacturing  and  merchandising,  but  I 
believe  in  regulated  monopoly  for  some  forms  of  public  serv- 
ice corporations,  particularly  municipal  corporations.  Beyond 
seeing  that  everyone  can  have  an  equal  and  fair  chance,  so  far 
as  their  abilities  permit,  I  favor  government  having  as  little 
to  do  with  the  conduct  of  business  as  possible.  I  would,  there- 
fore, favor  laws  which  would  give  Federal  supervision  with  a 
Federal  Appeal  Commission  with  ample  investigating  powers, 
but  if  government  regulation  goes  beyond  the  exclusion  of  il- 
legal and  immoral  practices  and  privileges,  and  the  maintenance 
of  a  square  deal  for  all,  it  will  inevitably  tend  to  restrict  or 
discourage  private  enterprise  and  to  create  a  demand  for  gov- 
ernment ownership. 

I  would  only  favor  repealing  the  Sherman  Law  when  simple 
but  comprehensive  legislation  has  been  devised  to  eliminate 
duress,  illegal  and  immoral  practices  and  privileges  in  conduct 
of  business  upon  competitive  lines. 

L.  P.  Larson,  Manager,  General  Store  and  Farming,  Bin- 
ford,  N.  D. 

General  dissatisfaction  exists  on  account  of  legislation  held 
up  in  Congress,  causing  the  general  public  to  believe  they  are 
being  discriminated  against.  The  cost  of  "high  living"  is 
also  a  cause  of  business  disturbance.  Many  seem  to  have  awak- 
ened to  the  fact  that  they  need  to  control  their  expenditures. 
With  a  good  increase  in  customers,  better  crops  than  last  year 
and  good  weather  conditions,  our  sales  do  not  show  a  corre- 
sponding increase. 


270 

B.  F.  Riter,  Riter  Bros.  Drug  Company,  Logan,  Utah. 

Beginning  with  the  agitation  for  tariff  revision,  which  re- 
sulted in  the  enactment  of  the  Payne- Aldrich  bill,  the  dissatis- 
faction following  over  some  of  its  schedules  caused  a  continu- 
ance of  the  agitation  and  consequent  unsettled  conditions  in 
all  lines  where  the  tariff  is  a  factor.  In  addition  were  the  hesi- 
tancy and  uncertainty  as  to  what  interpretation  the  Supreme 
Court  would  put  on  the  Sherman  Act,  and  there  still  continues 
a  clash  in  public  opinion  as  to  the  expediency  of  the  decision 
to  cover  the  issues  at  stake. 

Other  causes  of  disturbance  have  been  and  are  the  demands 
of  labor  for  higher  wages  from  those  engaged  in  transportation, 
and  this  in  the  face  of  a  declining  traffic,  and  increase  of  operat- 
ing expenses  in  all  other  lines,  with  consequent  decreased  earn- 
ings; the  hostility  of  organized  labor  toward  organized  or  cor- 
porate wealth;  the  government  suits  for  the  enforcement  of  the 
Sherman  Act,  causing  a  "  hand-to-mouth  "  policy  in  buying  and 
producing  on  the  part  of  industrial  corporations;  the  adjust- 
ment and  segregation  to  comply  with  the  law  on  the  part  of 
the  so-called  trusts,  presenting  problems  that  are  as  intricate 
as  it  would  be  to  "  unscramble  eggs/'  with  the  consequent  effect 
on  labor,  production  and  traffic;  the  uncertainty  existing  at  the 
present  time  over  railroad  rates  as  determined  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  and  reversal  by  the  Court  of  Commerce, 
placing  the  railroad  companies  and  traffic  in  general  in  a  state 
of  hesitancy  and  uncertainty. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  of  companies  engaged  in 
in!erstate  commerce,  classifying  same  according  to  their  char- 
acter, and  all  to  be  under  the  control  of  several  commissions. 
I  also  favor  Federal  license,  the  fee  incident  to  the  same  to  take 
the  place  of  the  present  tax  on  corporations. 

Exploitation  of  producers  and  consumers  should  be  dealt 
with  by  the  creation  of  a  commission  with  powers  to  determine 
the  merits  of  complaints,  and  by  laws  to  punish  offenses.  I 
favor  laws  not  to  absolutely  prohibit  holding  companies,  in  so 
far  as  it  is  necessary  to  prevent  excessive  and  unreasonable 
competition — thus  far  and  no  further.  Unfair  competition  and 
restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with  by  statutes  expressly 
forbidding  certain  specified  practices.  Capitalization  should  be 
determined  by  a  commission,  which  should  also  administer  laws 
relating  to  publicity  as  applied  to  corporate  affairs. 

Bulkley,  Dunton  &  Co.  (Paper),  New  York  City. 

Uncertainty  as  to  tariff  changes;  uncertainty  as  to  action  by 
legislative  bodies  concerning  private  business ;  unreasonable  de- 
mands by  trade  unions ;  and  too  much  political  interference  with 
business,  are  the  causes  of  unrest.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  amended,  or  else  some  better  law  should  be  passed.  The 
amendment,  or  the  new  law,  should  provide  for  publicity  and 
government  control  of  large  corporations. 


280 

Ed.  V.  Price  &  Co.,  Wholesale  Custom  Tailors,  Chicago,  111. 

There  has  been  too  much  legislation.  Irresponsible  writers, 
through  the  medium  of  magazines  and  newspapers,  have  been 
attacking  everything  that  would  make  their  articles  salable. 
In  addition  to  these  attacks  being  malicious,  the  writers,  in 
many  instances,  have  had  little  regard  for  the  truth,  but  have 
misstated  facts  and  misconstrued  incidents  in  order  to  make 
their  stories  sensational  and  readable,  and  in  our  opinion  their 
chief  and  main  object  has  been  wholly  to  make  money  and  not 
to  better  conditions.  A  national  incorporation  law  is  badly 
needed,  and  Federal  license  would  do  away  with  the  necessity 
of  the  Sherman  Law. 

If  not  repealed,  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as 
not  to  interfere  with  large  corporations  doing  a  legitimate  inter- 
state business.  As  the  law  now  stands,  it  is  not  clear  and  vir- 
tually makes  the  court  the  sole  supervisor  of  how  business  should 
be  conducted.  The  law  should  be  clear  and  concise  when 
applied  to  business  enterprises.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval 
and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade 
unions  should  be  forced  to  incorporate  and  have  some  financial 
responsibility,  so  that  they  will  be  obliged  to  live  up  to  agree- 
ments and  contracts  they  enter  into,  which  they  do  not  do  at 
the  present  time.  Farmers  should  be  allowed  to  combine,  with 
reasonable  restrictions. 

James  E.  Brodhead,  Lumber  Merchant,  Flemington,  N.  J. 

If  not  repealed,  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended,  par- 
ticularly that  part  of  it  which  makes  it  criminal  for  a  layman 
to  violate  a  law  which  nine-tenths  of  the  legal  profession  cannot 
understand  themselves.  I  favor  national  incorporation  and 
Federal  license.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates. 

Political  agitators,  socialism,  arrogant  demands  of  unionism, 
instigated  by  their  leaders  in  the  majority  of  cases,  are  causes  of 
business  disturbance.  All  of  which  is  further  aggravated  by 
excessive  or  over  production.  The  latter  has  and  always  will 
be  corrected  by  the  unalterable  law  of  supply  and  demand. 

The  foregoing  statements  are  those  of  a  layman  and  from 
general  observation  and  experience  for  the  past  forty-five  years; 
i.  e.,  beginning  as  water  boy,  at  fifteen  years  of  age,  on  a  gravel 
train  on  railroad  construction,  in  1865;  in  charge  of  a  com- 
missary department  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad,  part  of 
1867-68;  railroad  construction  from  1869  to  1875;  a  railroad 
department  purchasing  agent,  1875  to  1879;  and  from  that 
date  until  the  present  time  in  the  wholesale  lumber  business 
or  railroad  supplies.  In  addition  to  above,  for  a  number  of 
years  past  have  had  and  still  have  a  substantial  interest  in  a 
number  of  industrial  enterprises,  where  large  bodies  of  mostly 
skilled  men  are  employed  as  metal  and  pottery  workers. 


281 

A.  Krakauer,  President,  Krakauer,  Zork  &  Moye's  Success- 
ors (Inc.),  El  Paso,  Tex. 

I  am  decidedly  of  opinion  that  the  Sherman  Law  should  be 
repealed  altogether;  therefore  I  do  not  want  to  express  an 
opinion  as  to  the  advisability  of  excepting  trade  unions  from  its 
operation.  I  cannot  see  the  difference  between  a  combination 
of  farmers  and  one  of  manufacturers  or  merchants  who  hold 
their  products  and  stock  of  merchandise  for  higher  prices  and 
make  a  combination  with  their  fellow  manufacturers  or  fellow 
merchants — as  the  case  may  be — to  accomplish  that  end.  Why 
should  it  be  lawful  in  one  case  and  not  in  the  other?  Labor 
unions  are,  in  my  opinion,  the  biggest  trust  in  the  country. 
They  combine  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  higher  wages  and 
attempt  to  shut  out  competition  absolutely  by  intimidation  and 
brute  force;  and  still,  no  law  can  reach  them,,  simply  because 
politicians,  with  which  this  country  is  cursed,  are  afraid  to  lose 
the  votes  of  the  laboring  class  if  they  should  endeavor  to  legis- 
late against  the  commitment  of  outrages  by  labor  unions. 

The  continued  knocking  and  hammering  at  corporations  and 
so-called  "  trusts  "  has  undoubtedly  brought  on  the  present  state 
of  affairs. 

When  we  compare  business  conditions  of  six  or  seven  years 
ago,  when  business  was  good;  when  everybody  made  money  and 
prospered;  when  the  laboring  class  had  plenty  work  at  good 
wages;  I  say,  when  we  compare  these  conditions  with  those  pre- 
vailing at  present,  when  everybody,  from  the  President  of  the 
United  States  down  to  the  chimney  sweep,  joins  in  the  cry 
"  Down  with  the  trusts  !  ",  "  Down  with  corporations !  " — the 
reason  for  the  depressed  business  conditions  is  easily  explained. 
Combination  of  capital  at  this  age  is  as  necessary  as  it  was  out 
of  place  thirty  or  fifty  years  ago;  and  to  make  a  comparison 
between  the  good  old  ox-cart  time  and  the  present  period  of 
steam  and  electricity  is  as  absurd  and  ridiculous  as  anything 
can  be. 

A  national  incorporation  law  that  would  eliminate  the  incor- 
porations of  the  different  States,  which  are  oppressive  in  some 
instances,  would  to  a  great  extent,  I  believe,  relieve  the  present 
complex  situation. 

S.   T.    Harrison,   Harrison-Headrick   Hardware   Company, 
Memphis,  Tex. 

The  Sherman  Law  might  be  amended  to  advantage.  Stat- 
utes forbidding  specific  practices  in  regard  to  unfair  competition 
and  restraint  of  trade  ought  to  be  enacted.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  passed  call- 
ing for  publicity  as  applied  to  commercial  corporations.  I  favor 
Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce, 
and  I  also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and 
combinations  of  farmers  should  be  lawful. 


282 

D.  L.  Gore,  President,  D.  L.  Gore  Company,  Wholesale 
Grocers,  Wilmington,  N.  C. 

You  ask  me,  What  causes  the  present  discontent?  In  addi- 
tion to  the  large  financiers  in  New  York  and  other  parts  of 
the  country  not  waiting  for  the  panic  patient  to  convalesce,  but 
starting  large  stock  speculations  and  other  things  which  many 
of  the  people  lost  money  by,  and  the  great  prosperity  in  the 
West  and  South  up  to  a  year  ago  where  cereals  and  cotton  prices 
had  been — and  were  then — very  high  and  are  now  much  lower; 
the  people  had  rushed  into  land  speculation  as  a  specialty,  and 
other  things  on  the  side.  Each  farmer  wanted  all  the  land 
that  joined  his,  and  the  people  in  the  towns  and  cities  have 
bought,  and  prices  went  up  in  their  favor  for  years,  while  now 
real  estate  in  both  country  and  city  and  town  is  lower,  and  the 
speculators  who  are  losing — the  small  as  well  as  the  large — are 
mad  with  trusts  or  some  other  great  monster,  forgetting  that 
not  the  trusts,  but  the  speculators  themselves  brought  on  their 
own  troubles  and  thereby  lost  money.  Each  individual  grumbler 
had  better  thank  God  for  the  good  times  we  had  and  keep  hard 
at  work  now,  and  so  be  in  the  race  when  the  next  flood-tide 
of  good  times  comes.  Then,  again,  too  many  young  men  think 
they  ought  not  to  do  manual  labor,  but  to  get  easy  clerical  jobs. 
Education  without  being  taught  to  work  is  a  mistake. 

These  are  some  of  the  things  that  bring  the  unrest.  People, 
as  a  rule,  never  go  wild  when  they  are  busy ;  so  I  fear  our  people 
have  not  been  as  busy  at  hard  and  wholesome  labor  as  they 
should  have  been. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate 
business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made'  so  plain  that  its 
provisions  will  be  easily  understood  and  obeyed.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization,  and  minority  stockholders 
should  be  protected. 

Clayton  T.  Tullis,  Snow-Tullis  Hardware  Company,  Mont- 
gomery, Ala. 

Take  about  two-thirds  of  the  gamblers  in  stock,  cotton,  wheat 
and  the  rest,  and  put  them  to  work  on  the  rock  pile  or  on  a  good 
farm,  and  that  will  help  some  to  put  a  stop  to  disturbance  in 
business.  Lack  of  thorough  knowledge  of  the  Sherman  Law; 
too  much  power  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men  to  dictate  to  the 
balance  of  the  United  States  regarding  financial  affairs,  have 
a  great  deal  to  do  with  disturbed  conditions.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  brought  up  to  date  to  meet  the  present 
requirements.  It  would  be  better  for  the  railroads  and  also  for 
the  shippers  that  the  railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  Combinations  of  farmers  should  be  permitted 
under  supervision  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  or  a  uniform  incorporation  law 
adopted  by  all  the  States.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion, which  I  regard  as  the  only  solution  of  the  problem. 


283 

J.  J.  Hanshue,  Wholesale  Flour,  etc.,  Lansing,  Mich. 

I  believe  that  our  Senate  and  House  are  wise  enough  to 
improve  the  Sherman  Law.  As  to  old  competitive  methods, 
most  people  are  competing  with  each  other.  Why  should  the 
strongest  and  shrewdest  have  privileges  of  monopoly?  There  is. 
no  harm  in  trying  to  improve  the  Sherman  Law  so  as  more 
effectually  to  provide  "  equal  opportunity  for  all,  and  special 
privilege  to  none/'  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from 
the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act;  neither  should  combinations 
of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for 
higher  prices;  nor  should  boards  of  trade  or  stock  exchanges. 

Legitimate  business  is  not  much  disturbed.  So  far  as  any 
disturbance  exists,  it  has  been  caused  by  the  complications  which 
attend  too  much  speculation. 

I  do  not  favor  either  Federal  license  or  national  incorpora- 
tion. Leave  the  incorporation  where  it  now  lies.  Influence  the 
States  to  make  improvements,  but  do  not  further  curtail  the 
rights  and  powers  of  the  States. 

The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  are  exaggerated.  They  are  the  stock  argument  of  monop- 
olists all  over  the  world.  A  flour  mill  in  a  Kansas  or  Dakota 
small  town  has  every  advantage  of  economy  possessed  by  any 
big  city  mill.  Manufacturing  as  well  as  farming  should  benefit 
as  many  people  as  possible. 

In  the  old  countries  where  monopoly  and  privilege  prevail, 
the  people  who  are  crushed  out  thereby  can  emigrate  to  newer 
countries.  By  permitting  monopoly,  we  are  closing  the  door 
of  opportunity  to  millions  of  future  stalwart  young  men,  not 
able  to  fall  heirs  to  the  monopolistic  stocks.  We  are  creating 
classes  of  owners,  hirelings  and  paupers — the  last  two  in  awful 
numbers.  The  mass  of  the  people  have  no  show  against  en- 
trenched privilege.  We  can  and  should  have  a  state  of  society 
here  in  which  all  men  may  live  and  thrive  without  the  necessity 
of  emigrating. 

B.  B.  Cushman,  The  National  Grocer  Company,  Detroit, 
Mich. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  opinion,  to  the 
effort  of  Federal  authorities  to  curb  combinations  and  to  dis- 
solve those  whose  strength  has  increased  until  it  now  measures 
that  of  the  United  States  government  itself.  Although  mistakes 
have  been  made  (perhaps)  by  the  procedure,  and  it  might  have 
been  possible  to  accomplish  as  much  or  more  through  milder 
efforts,  I  question  this.  I  think  the  opposition  was  so  strongly 
entrenched  as  to  require  the  explosion  of  a  good  16-inch  gun, 
to  show  them  the  effect  of  heavy  artillery  when  properly 
manned.  I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  most 
assuredly,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


284 

P.  Weigel,  Jr.,  Hardware  and  Steel,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable.  I 
consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  competitive  methods  of  the  old 
school.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  it  will 
apply  to  all  kinds  of  labor  and  trade  unions  the  same  as  to  cor- 
porations and  trusts  and  co-partnerships.  Kailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  "  Should  trade  unions  be 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act  ?  "  No — never ; 
but  to  the  contrary,  each  and  every  one  should  be  made  to  incor- 
porate and  held  responsible  for  his  acts,  and  each  and  every 
individual  member  liable  for  crime  or  damages.  "  Should  com- 
binations of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a 
crop  for  higher  prices,  be  rendered  lawful?"  No,  no;  to  the 
contrary,  they  should  be  held  liable.  I  favor  national  incor- 
poration, also  Federal  license,  within  equity,  reason  and  justice. 

Present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  labor 
and  trade  unions  in  particular;  trusts  and  combinations  in  gen- 
eral; distrust  and  mistrust  of  labor  against  capital,  industries, 
commerce,  etc.;  organized  power  of  so-called  labor  and  trades 
unions,  fearless,  careless  and  uncontrollable  for  self-govern- 
ment. The  labor  question  is  the  very  first  item  that  must  be 
settled.  The  shop  must  be  open  and  free  to  all.  The  purchase 
price  of  commodities,  materials,  food  stuffs,  etc.,  must  recede 
to  a  low,  honest  level.  Our  curse  to-day  is  born  in  the  fact  that 
labor,  farmers,  manufacturers  and  merchants  are  grasping  with 
a  terrible  greed  for  exorbitant,  excessive,  inflated  demands,  each 
in  his  line.  The  time  is  now  at  hand  to  let  the  bottom*  drop 
out.  Commence  anew  at  low  values.  Give  us  back  the  years 
between  1894  and  1898.  Wages  were  fair;  profits  not  large, 
but  satisfactory.  One  dollar  then  was  as  large  as  twenty  to-day. 
Labor  and  capital  were  happy. 

Abraham  Roberts,  General  Manager,  Co-operative  General 
Merchandise,  Calumet,  Mich. 

State  corporations  doing  interstate  commerce  should  take  out 
Federal  license  under  suitable  conditions.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization  and  laws  should  provide  for  pub- 
licity to  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations.  For  the  time 
being,  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike 
those  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  rela- 
tion to  common  carriers,  would  be  useful. 

Present  business  disturbance  is  due  to  the  legalized  exploita- 
tion of  the  many  by  the  few;  private  ownership  of  the  tools  of 
production  and  public  utilities,  and  too  rapid  increase  of  popula- 
tion, both  by  birth  rate  and  immigration.  We  want  still  larger 
combinations  of  capital  to  produce  and  distribute  the  necessaries 
of  life,  owned  and  operated  by  the  many  for  the  benefit  of  the 
many,  not  owned  and  operated  by  the  few  for  the  benefit  of  the 
few,  which  tends  to  make  the  rich  richer  and  the  poor  poorer. 


285 

Failing-McCalman  Company,  Hardware,  Portland,  Ore. 

Great  uncertainty  as  to  our  future  conditions,  not  only  as 
regards  the  Sherman  Act,  but  also  the  tariff,  is  responsible  for 
business  disturbance.  We  favor  Federal  incorporation  for  com- 
panies engaged  in  interstate  commerce,  and  additional  legisla- 
tion giving  power  to  associations  to  establish  prices  and  main- 
tain them.  Prices  must  be  subject  to  review,  as  are  railroad 
rates.  We  are  opposed  to  holding  companies.  We  also  think 
that  statutes  should  expressly  specify  practices  that  are  pro- 
hibited, so  that  we  may  know  what  we  can  do  lawfully.  The 
government  should  regulate  capitalization.  We  do  not  favor 
publicity,  except  for  corporations  offering  stocks  and  bonds  at 
public  sale.  Small  private  corporations  do  not  require  publicity 
to  protect  their  minority  stockholders,  as  a  rule. 

In  addition  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale,  there  are  others,  the  chief  of  which  is  the 
maintenance  of  a  stable  market,  a  condition  which  works  to  the 
advantage  of  the  producer,  consumer  and  middleman.  Rail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
Trade  unions  should  be  required  to  incorporate  and  thus  be 
responsible  for  their  acts.  We  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Cora- 
mission.  Combinations  of  farmers  should  be  subject  to  the 
review  of  the  same  commission  that  passes  upon  the  acts  of  other 
combinations.  The  Interstate  Trade  Commission  should  cover 
all  price  agreements  of  farmers,  unions,  merchants  and  manu- 
facturers. 

A.  V.  Neilson  Company,  Ltd.,  Wholesale  Grocers,  Alexan- 
dria, La. 

The  overcapitalization  of  our  large  corporations  and  indus- 
trial enterprises,  straining  the  nerves  of  our  money  centres,  is, 
in  my  judgment,  the  cause  of  any  disturbance  that  threatens 
business  to-day.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make 
it  inviting  to  capital,  but  have  it  so  plain  and  strict  that  capital 
will  follow  the  "  Golden  Rule."  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  be 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  but  it  should 
be  made  a  serious  offense  to  interfere  with  the  rights  of  others. 
Farmers  should  be  allowed  to  combine  until  they  are  strong 
enough  to  care  for  themselves.  I  favor  national  incorporation, 
Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Henry  Hahn,  Merchant,  Portland,  Ore. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  also  national  incor- 
poration and  Federal  license.  I  am  absolutely  opposed  to  the 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  The  amendment  which  I  favor 
would  eliminate  fines  and  provide  for  imprisonment  for  viola- 
tions of  the  law.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 


286 

S.  H.  Chatten,  Lumberman,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

In  my  judgment  there  is  no  good  reason  why  we  should 
not  be  having  great  prosperity  now.  All  conditions  are  favor- 
able, with  one  exception,  and  if  the  people  understood  the  real 
facts  in  the  case  they  would  not  stand  for  it  a  single  day. 
Instead  of  our  government  tearing  down  great  institutions  they 
should  be  standing  back  of  them  and  say,  "  Go  after  the  mar- 
kets and  business  of  the  world,"  and  with  half  a  chance  as 
against  other  countries,  they  would  get  the  business  and  a  half 
billion  of  dollars  yearly  in  gold  or  its  equivalent  would  come 
our  way  from  foreign  countries.  It's  criminal  to  allow  our  great 
natural  resources  to  go  undeveloped  while  one  class  is  pitted 
against  the  other,  by  telling  them  some  great  wrong  is  being 
committed,  and  that  business  as  now  carried  on  is  dishonest 
which  is  not  so.  Teach  the  farmer  how  to  produce  more  crops 
per  acre,  and  let  the  business  man  go  ahead  and  develop  the 
country,  and  we  will  have  such  prosperity  as  the  world  has 
never  known,  and  every  man,  woman  and  child  will  reap  his 
full  share  of  the  benefit.  It's  a  shame  to  allow  things  to  go  on 
as  they  are. 

W.  Tyrie  Stevens,  Export  Merchant,  New  York. 

Trusts  are  so  overcapitalized  that  to  earn  huge  dividends 
they  are  destroying  the  purchasing  power  of  the  people.  I  do 
not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  It  should  be  amended 
so  that  great  economic  combinations  shall  be  controlled  in  such 
a  way  as  to  bring  to  the  United  States  the  trade  of  the  world 
and  yet  be  unable  to  pillage  the  home  people.  Kailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 
A  national  commission  should  be  appointed,  with  full  power  to 
deal  with  wage  disputes.  Combinations  of  farmers  should  be 
amenable  to  the  same  control  as  manufacturing  combinations. 
I  favor  national  incorporation  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

Orr,  Jackson  &  Co.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Disturbed  business  conditions,  in  our  judgment,  are  caused 
by  the  government's  investigation  of  the  Standard  Oil,  Tobacco 
and  Steel  Trusts.  This  was  bound  to  come;  so  the  sooner  it 
was  over  the  better.  If  trusts  and  combinations  were  satisfied 
with  reasonable  profits,  there  would  not  be  the  great  objection 
to  them  that  there  is;  but  they  are  not.  Since  8  or  10  per 
cent,  is  not  satisfactory,  they  want  25  per  cent,  if  they  can 
get  it — and  that,  too,  on  "  watered  "  stock. 

We  think  the  Sherman  Law  can  be  improved,  also  that  it 
is  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  The  criminal 
clause  of  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  enforced.  We  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  Federal  license. 


287 

James  Benedict,  Former  Merchant  and  Manufacturer,  New 
York  City. 

The  general  political  attacks  upon  property — the  fear  of  in- 
numerable laws  created  to  overtax  all  manner  of  property — the 
State,  municipal  and  national  extravagance  engendered  by  the 
results  of  excessive  taxation — the  fact  that  successful  business 
seems  to  invite  attacks  from  all  political  bodies — the  general 
political  unrest,  but  above  all  things  else  the  Sherman  Law 
and  the  hysterical  ways  of  enforcing  it — the  pandering  to  the 
mob  generally  for  political  effect.  And  the  result  of  an  un- 
principled "  Press  "  and  the  cheap,  untrustworthy  and  "  muck- 
raking "  magazines — these  phenomenal  and  dangerous  influences 
have  all  come  to  the  front  since  the  assassination-  of  President 
McKinley. 

The  successful  merchants,  manufacturers,  and  bankers  of 
this  law  besotted  country — the  men  who  do  things — the  men 
Who  have  made  the  country — will,  if  left  alone,  bring  things  out 
all  right.  They  do  not  need  the  advice  of  doctrinaires,  nor  of 
college  professors,  nor  of  political  agitators,  nor  yet  of  pro- 
fessional "  thinkers  " — nor  of  the  large  class  who  seek  to  ad- 
vertise themselves  in  every  way  and  at  all  times.  Let  us  have 
peace ! 

Charles  H.  May,  Jobbing  Grocer,  Fremont,  Neb. 

All  corporations  should  be  amenable  to  a  law  framed  on  the 
lines  of  the  national  banking  laws,  in  so  far  as  the  issuance  of 
stock  goes.  Then  there  would  be  no  stock  except  such  as  is 
covered  by  actual  assets.  Dividends  would  be  paid  on  a  proper 
basis,  and  the  public  would  not  be  compelled  to  pay  corpora- 
tions a  profit  on  water  and  air.  Thus  one  of  the  causes  con- 
tributing to  business  disturbance  would  be  overcome.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  your  Federation  will  give  this  phase  of  the  question 
the  attention  it  deserves,  as  on  some  such  basis  as  suggested 
a  remedy  for  the  trust  and  monopoly  evil  can  surely  be  found. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business,  and  States  should  enact  similar  laws  for  intra- 
state  corporations.  National  and  State  legislation  on  this  and 
related  subjects  should  be  in  accord. 

A.  Lowenstein,  Wholesale  Produce  Dealer,  Chillicothe,  Mo. 

I  think  the  entire  country  is  suffering  from  the  activities 
of  politicians  who  imagine  a  "  Trust  Busting  Campaign  "  will 
bring  them  into  the  limelight  and  be  popular  with  the  voters. 
We  need  more  business  men  in  Congress  and  fewer  politicians; 
in  fact,  we  could  easily  dispense  with  all  the  latter  and  neyer 
miss  them,  except  for  the  quiet  and  serenity  their  absence 
would  make.  Whenever  the  people  become  educated  to  the 
true  state  of  affairs,  they  will  vote  the  disturbers  to  business 
out  of  office.  If  the  above  were  not  true,  you  would  not  now 
be  addressing  these  inquiries  to  people. 


Albert  M.  Day,  Retired,  Lake  Forest,  111. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  the  drastic  attempt  of  the 
government  to  break  up  all  large  corporations,  or  rather  the 
constant  threat  of  such  intention,  and  the  unwise  action  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  which  seems  in  all  cases  to 
consider  the  railroads  blameable,  and  puts  in  effect  rates  under 
which  the  roads  cannot  earn  reasonable  dividends  and  put  a 
proper  amount  back  into  the  property.  All  large  corporations 
are  dreading  attack,  and  there  is  no  way  of  knowing  whether 
they  are  legal  or  not  till  passed  upon  by  the  Courts.  Natur- 
ally, they  curtail  wherever  possible.  Eailroads  with  reduced 
rates  and  increased  expenses  are  obliged  to  curtail  The  largest 
buyers  of  the  country  are  thus  kept  out  of  the  markets  to  a 
great  extent,  and  all  business  suffers.  Investors  fear  for  the 
value  of  their  securities;  in  some  cases  are  frightened  and  sell; 
in  others  refuse  to  buy  what  heretofore  have  been  considered 
desirable,  and  would  be  now  under  proper  and  reasonable  regu- 
lation and  control.  When  it  seems  to  be  a  crime  to  build  up 
a  successful  business,  without  regard  to  whether  or  not  methods 
used  have  been  honest,  and  where  no  real  monopoly  was  in- 
tended or  has  arisen,  business  conditions  cannot  fail  to  be  "  dis- 
turbed." 

Arthur  W.  Joun,  Treasurer,  Wm.  Simpson  Sons  &   Co., 
Drygoods  Commission  Merchants,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  fear  that  labor  unrest  and  socialism  are  increasing 
causes  large  interests  to  contract  their  liabilities,  and  has  a 
disturbing  influence  upon  business  in  general.  I  favor  national 
incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  interstate  business.  I 
believe  in  holding  companies,  under  limitations.  Laws  should 
be  enacted,  expressly  forbidding  specified  practices  in  restraint 
of  trade  and  unfair  competition.  The  government  should  regu- 
late capitalization  of  companies  working  under  a  Federal  char- 
ter. Minority  interests  should  be  protected  through  a  commis- 
sion. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  As  to  the 
advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale, 
I  do  not  believe  that  workmen  receive  better  wages,  and  I  also 
deny  that  such  business  always  commands  the  best  ability. 

Wm.  A.  Petas,  Geo.  C.  Buell  &  Co.,  Wholesale  Grocers, 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 

Fear  of  drastic  changes  in  the  tariff  law  and  other  changes 
liable  to  be  brought  about,  provided  there  is  a  different  politi- 
cal party  in  control  after  the  next  presidential  election,  as  well 
as  uncertainty  in  regard  to  the  requirements  of  the  Sherman 
Act,  all  tend  to  unsettle  business  conditions.  The  Sherman 
Act  should  be  made  more  clear  as  to  its  requirements  and  we 
should  have  a  national  incorporation  law. 


289 

Sehon,  Stevenson  &  Co.,  Wholesale  Grocers,  Huntington, 
W.  Va. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed  or  amended.  It  is 
plain  and  comprehensive.  To  undertake  to  state  specifically 
what  should  not  be  done  would  be  to  make  lawful  by  implica- 
tion all  acts  that  .were  not  enumerated. 

A  commission  or  court  for  interstate  requirements,  and  a 
like  commission  or  court  in  each  State,  should  be  appointed,  so 
that  business  interests  could  apply  to  them  respectively  to  have 
their  system  passed  upon  when  they  deemed  advisable.  Invest- 
ors in  business  could  themselves  be  the  judges  of  the  necessity 
for  such  submission ;  if  they  felt  sure  that  their  operations  would 
not  be  in  restraint  of  trade  or  the  stifling  of  competition,  they 
would  pay  no  attention  to  the  commission;  if  they  were  at  all 
uncertain,  they  would  take  no  risk  and  have  their  systems  passed 
upon. 

As  it  is  now,  unlawful  acts  are  (perhaps  unwittingly)  com- 
mitted and  then  punished  by  slow  process  of  the  courts,  caus- 
ing a  shock  and  stoppage  of  business.  Uncertainty  as  to  what 
the  ruling  of  the  courts  might  be  is  now  the  cause  of  business 
disturbance.  It  is  better  to  prevent  a  wrong  than  to  punish  one. 

George  M.  Mell,  Wholesale  Lumber  Dealer,  Kane,  Pa. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  the  following  causes : 

(1)  The  so-called  protective  tariff,  which  protects  no  one 
except  the  party  or  combination  big  enough  to  go  to  Washington 
and  influence  legislation  properly  or  otherwise. 

(2)  The  water  that  is  in  most  large  corporations,  notably 
the  railroad  companies,  most  of  them  with  stock  issues  two  or 
three  times  in  excess  of  actual  value,  for  which  the  people  are 
paying  in  excessive  freight  rates. 

(3)  The  four  reasons  against  parcels  post,  namely,  Adams 
Express,  United  States  Express,  the  Wells  Fargo  and  the  Amer- 
ican. 

(4)  The  combination  which  controls  food  values;  Armour, 
etc. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Robert  Fullerton,  Lumber,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  reaction  from  overexpansion 
from  1900  to  1907.  The  bankers'  panic  of  1907  was  the  first 
danger  signal,  and  the  political  agitator  has  been  busy  disturb- 
ing business  by  urging  the  prosecution  of  every  successful  indus- 
trial corporation.  Fear  to  move  forward  in  the  darkness  and 
dangers  ahead  is  compelling  captains  of  industry  to  shorten  sail 
and  lay  to,  until  such  time  as  a  correct  observation  can  be  taken 
and  the  business  fog  lifts.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  Fed- 
eral license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission — any  instru- 
mentality that  can  chart  the  way  to  safety  in  business  affairs. 


290 

J.  W.  West,  Naval  Stores,  etc.,  Valdosta  and  Decatur,  Ga. 

Present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  uncertainty ; 
"  progressiveism " ;  aggregations  of  capital,  as  well  as  labor 
unions  that  are  continuously  demanding  more  and  more  pay, 
which  is  one  of  the  causes  of  driving  capitalists  into  associa- 
tions to  protect  themselves,  etc. 

I  have  felt  the  effects  of  trusts,  or  monopolies,  as  well  as  of 
labor  unions.  Am  opposed  to  both  when  they  go  to  the  extremes 
as  they  have  in  our  country.  Great  aggregations  of  capital,  if 
continued,  will,  sooner  or  later,  drive  out  the  individual  from 
nearly  every  line  of  business,  even  though  he  may  have  $100,000 
or  $500,000  capital.  While  I  treat  laborers  with  the  greatest 
consideration  and  believe  in  paying  them  upon  their  merits, 
if  our  country  does  not  undertake  in  the  near  future  to  stop 
the  lawlessness  of  unions,  a  revolution  in  our  country  is  sure. 
Had  I  a  million  dollars  to-day  idle,  I  would  not  invest  it  in 
any  enterprise  that  requires  many  laborers,  nor  in  one  that 
comes  in  competition  with  any  of  the  trusts  or  monopolies. 

William  Harris  Douglas,  Exporter,  New  York  City. 

So-called  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  regarding  the  Sher- 
man Law  show  that  those  learned  gentlemen  are  as  much  in 
the  dark  as  the  average  man  in  trying  to  define  this  law.  I  do 
not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  but  it  should  be 
amended  to  make  the  law  read  so  it  could  be  understood.  At 
present  everybody  understands  it  to  suit  himself.  The  rail- 
ways should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates 
only  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 
Sherman  Act,  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  not  be  per- 
mitted to  restrict  production,  but  they  should  have  the  right  to 
sell  at  their  own  price,  except  in  case  of  absolute  failure  of 
crops,  famine,  etc. 

George  N.   Grouse   (Grouse  Grocery  Company),  Syracuse, 

The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  are,  in  a  great  measure,  true,  but  the  "  large  scale "  cor- 
poration seldom  gives  the  benefit  to  its  customers  by  a  selling 
price  reduction.  I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  doing 
an  interstate  business.  The  Sherman  Law  could  be  vastly  im- 
proved. Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
as  long  as  the  Commission  is  composed  of  competent  members. 
I  would  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if  competent, 
high  class  tradesmen  compose  it.  The  business  disturbance  has 
been  caused  by  too  much  exposure  of  high  finance,  resulting  in 
undue  caution  and  lack  of  confidence.  A  bitter  pill  ofttimes 
produces  a  speedy  and  most  efficient  recovery. 


291 

L.  E.  Denison,  President,  Denison-Gholson  Drygoods  Com- 
pany, Cairo,  111. 

I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed,  unless  we  can  im- 
prove upon  it.  It  should  be  made  clearer.  Railroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade 
unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sher- 
man Act;  neither  should  combinations  of  farmers,  to  restrict 
production  or  hold  a  .  crop  for  higher  prices,  be  permitted.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due 
to  too  much  money  in  a  few  hands.  Legislation  to  the  end  that 
one  man  or  set  of  men  (such  as  J.  P.  Morgan,  for  instance) 
may  not  have  so  much  power  for  good  or  evil  is  what  we  want. 

Overcapitalization  is  the  source  of  most  of  our  troubles. 
There  should  be  a  Federal  incorporation  law  and  a  commission 
to  oversee  capitalization.  If  it  is  fair  to  the  national  banks, 
it  would  not  be  unfair  to  other  corporations. 

E.  L.   Durkee  &   Co.,  Hardware  .Merchants,  Gloversville, 
N.  Y. 

If  our  legislators  would  devote  their  energies  to  the  speedy 
enactment  of  such  laws  as  would  seem  best  to  regulate  manu- 
facturers and  trade,  in  accord  with  the  advice  of  real  business 
men,  acting  not  in  any  narrow  interest,  but  for  the  welfare  of 
the  whole  American  people,  and  would  also  revise  the  tariff 
schedules  in  accord  with  party  pledges,  or  defer  action  on  the 
latter  to  some  definite  future  period,  the  business  of  the  country 
would  soon  revive. 

There  are  many  good  features  in  the  Sherman  Law.  It 
should  be  amended  to  more  clearly  define  what  is  monopoly  or 
unreasonable  restraint  of  trade,  and  to  provide  a  more  expedi- 
tious method  of  enforcement,  with  personal  instead  of  corporate 
liability.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  with  limita- 
tions and  restrictions,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if 
it  can  be  so  constituted  and  empowered  as  to  expedite  the  settle- 
ment of  controversies  and  irregularities. 

A.   K.   Edwards,   President,  The   Edwards   &   Chamberlin 
Hardware  Company,  Kalamazoo,  Mich. 

I  prefer  Federal  legislation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  I  admit  that  the  advantages  claimed  for  those 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale  exist  in  properly  managed  cor- 
porations of  the  magnitude  indicated,  but  I  do  not  believe  that 
the  consumer  always  derives  his  full  share  of  such  saving.  I 
favor  a  commission  which  would  have  control  over  interstate 
trade,  along  the  lines  of  the  present  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. I  believe  that  the  government's  present  manner  of 
handling  these  problems  is  not  only  disorganizing,  but  demoral- 
izing and  against  the  best  interests  of  the  country  at  large. 


292 

Edward  D.  Page,  Faulkner,  Page  &  Co.,  New  York  City. 

In  the  effort  to  prevent  monopolistic  combination  Congress 
has  passed  a  law  which  actually  makes  criminal  the  integration 
of  industry,  i.  e.}  combination  in  vertical  instead  of  a  hori- 
zontal plane,  and  co-operative  or  economic  combination,  both 
of  which  processes  reduce  cost,  increase  the  efficiency  of  a  given 
application  of  labor,  capital  and  enterprise,  and  eventually,  if 
not  immediately,  reduce  the  price  to  the  consumer.  This  makes 
men  who  follow  every  injunction  of  the  moral  law  wrongdoers 
by  legislation ! 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  a  number  of  conditions :  (&) 
The  reaction,  via  the  panic  of  1907,  of  the  excessive  business 
activity  of  1905,  1906  and  1907;  (&')  the  fear  of  a  recurrence 
of  the  panic  under  our  present  currency  system;  (c)  uncer- 
tainties created  by  half-baked  legislation,  intended  for  the  repres- 
sion or  prevention  of  monopoly;  (d)  the  feeling  that  we  are 
entering  an  era  of  falling  prices;  (e)  retrenchment  in  ex- 
penses, and  probably  half  a  dozen  other  conditions.  Such  dis- 
turbance is  rarely — and  is  not  in  this  instance — the  result  of 
a  single  cause.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

Otto  C.  Ericson,  President,  C.  Jevne  &  Co.,  Importers  and 
Grocers,  Chicago,  111. 

I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission;  it  might 
become  the  most  gigantic  of  all  monopolies — a  tyranny.  There 
should  be  uniform  incorporation  laws  for  all  the  States.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  but  if  not  repealed  it  should 
be  made  clear  and  explicit,  denning  "  unreasonable  restriction 
of  trade."  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates. 

In  attempting  to  pull  up  tares  (trusts  that  are  iniquitous) 
the  wheat  is  pulled  up  also  (good  corporations  or  trusts). 
Progress  cannot  be  realized  without  adequate  laws  to  fit  present 
conditions.  We  are  progressing  in  all  things  excepting  in  our 
laws  which  are  always  reactionary. 

George  W.  Kuhlke,  Merchant,  New  York  City. 

Lack  of  confidence  due  to  the  government  suits  and  the  un- 
certainty of  large  business  corporations  as  to  their  future  have 
caused  anxiety  in  business  circles,  especially  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  the  decisions  so  far  delivered  by  the  Supreme  Court  do 
not  lay  down  rules  of  a  positive  character  for  the  guidance  of 
business  when  incorporated  on  a  large  scale.  The  experiments 
in  reorganization  have  not  had  a  very  encouraging  influence 
on  business.  There  has  been  altogether  too  much  political  med- 
dling with  the  normal  course  of  business.  I  prefer  a  national 
incorporation  law  to  Federal  license,  but  would  accept  the  latter 
if  we  cannot  have  the  former.  I  also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 


293 

William  Judson,  Wholesale  Grocer,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Eepeal  the  Sherman  Law,  and  enact  in  its  stead  a  new  law, 
the  provisions  of  which  shall  be  constructive  rather  than  de- 
structive, and  compatible  with  the  demands  of  modern  business 
conditions.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  Combinations  of  farmers  should  be 
treated  the  same  as  combinations  in  other  industries,  and  trade 
unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sher- 
man Act.  I  believe  in  holding  companies.  I  do  not  favor 
government  regulation  of  capitalization,  but  the  law  should 
require  capital  to  be  fully  paid  in  cash  or  property.  I  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission — a  non-political  one. 

In  addition  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale,  another  important  advantage  is  the  market- 
ing abroad  of  great  quantities  of  American  manufactured 
product,  which  is  impractical  with  small  concerns. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to 
the  fact  that  progress  has  outstripped  law  governing  trade 
relations,  and  confusion  has  resulted.  There  are  too  many 
politicians — too  few  statesmen.  Abnormal  increase  in  the 
world's  gold  supply,  thereby  upsetting  the  established  order  of 
relative  values,  and  causing  inequalities  in  compensation  for 
services  and  commodities,  also  causing  discord,  discomfort  and 
unhappiness,  has  much  to  do  with  business  disquietude,  and  the 
readjustment  of  all  this  will  take  much  time. 

Pacific  Hardware  &  Steel  Company,  Portland,  Ore. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  our  judgment,  to, 
first,  gospel  of  discontent  spread  by  labor  agitators  and  socialists ; 
second,  uncertainty  as  to  meaning  of  the  Sherman  Law;  third, 
too  much  railroad  legislation;  fourth,  unsettled  rate  conditions 
caused  by  attack  on  Commerce  Court. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  have  the  govern- 
ment regulate  prices,  also  permit  consolidation  of  railroads  and 
co-operation  in  their  tariffs.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  We  favor  national  in- 
corporation, Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

J.  J.  Patterson,  Wholesale  Grocer,  Chatham,  Va. 

The  trusts  have  done  a  tremendous  work  for  good  in  de- 
veloping the  commerce  and  extending  the  market  for  our  prod- 
uce, and  they  are  giving  consumers  more  for  their  money  and 
better  quality.  While  they  should  be  strictly  regulated,  there 
should  be  no  hysterical  action.  Statesmen,  not  demagogues, 
should  handle  the  great  questions.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
not  be  repealed,  unless  we  can  get  something  better.  We  don't 
want  to  tear  business  all  to  pieces  in  correcting  evils  if  we  can 
manage  it  differently.  I  favor  national  incorporation  and  Fed- 
eral license. 


294 

W.  R.  Chester,  Wholesale  Lumber  Dealer,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  labor  element  is  largely  responsible  for  business  uncer- 
tainty. They  have  been  the  means  of  doubling  the  cost  of 
necessities  of  life.  Overlegislation  is  also  one  of  the  great 
causes  of  business  unrest. 

We  have  commissions  enough.  We  have  elected  law  makers 
— let  them  enact  laws  and  see  that  they  are  carried  out.  Com- 
missions are  formed  simply  to  give  berths  to  politicians.  If 
commissions  could  have  as  members  practical  business  men  who 
could  advise  our  law  makers,  I  would  favor  them,  but  from  our 
present  experience  no  commission  will  be.  made  up  in  that 
way. 

If  Congress  and  our  legislatures  would  rescind  all  laws 
relating  to  labor  and  its  regulation,  so-called  trusts  and  our 
railroads  and  then  adjourn,  it  would  inspire  confidence  to  such 
an  extent  that  it  would  start  every  wheel  in  our  mills  and  on 
our  railroads,  and  give  employment  to  every  man  or  woman 
who  applied,  at  fair  wages,  and  thus  bring  comfort  and  happi- 
ness to  our  citizens. 

Drop  politics  and  get  down  to  business ! 

C.   O.   Davidson,  Vice-President  Davidson  Grocery  Com- 
pany, Boise,  Idaho. 

I  believe  that  the  concentration  of  capital  has  been  pushed 
far  beyond  the  point  where  it  is  truly  economical;  I  do  -not 
believe,  however,  that  it  is  possible  to  frame  laws  to  control 
unlimited  concentration,  so  as  to  give  as  fair  service  to  the 
public  as  large  single  corporations. 

Admitting  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  I  believe  that  most  of  the  large  combinations 
are  not  taking  full  advantage  of  all  these  points,  especially  the 
last. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies, 
and  favor  laws  that  will  prevent  them.  Unfair  competition  and 
restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with  by  the  Sherman  Anti- 
Trust  Act.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization  and 
provide  publicity  for  commercial  corporations. 

Benjamin  R.  Kittridge,  California  Wine  Association,  San 
Francisco,  Cal. 

It  is  necessary  to  distinctly  define  what  is  meant  by  "  evils 
in  business  "  before  they  can  be  intelligently  legislated  upon,  if 
they  can  be  legislated  upon  at  all.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  repealed.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due, 
in  my  judgment,  to  fear  of  partial  confiscation  of  property 
through  "  regulation  "  or  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion. 


295 

Noyes  Bros.  &  Cutler,  Importers  and  Wholesale  Druggists, 
St.  Paul. 

Theoretically,  a  regulation  of  business  by  the  government 
to  a  reasonable  extent  and  in  a  reasonable  way  for  the  best 
interests  of  the  country  as  a  whole  is  a  proposition  to  which 
few  would  raise  any  objection.  The  difficulty  has  been  and 
probably  will  continue  to  be  that  the  regulating  laws,  even 
when  they  are  reasonable  in  themselves,  are  not  intelligently 
or  reasonably  enforced  by  the  employees  of  the  government. 
The  men  who  enforce  these  laws  frequently  have  no  proper  un- 
derstanding of  business  methods  and  have  the  power  of  the 
government  back  of  them.  They  create  needless  trouble,  ex- 
pense and  annoyance  to  perfectly  honorable  and  law  abiding 
merchants.  It  is  this  officious  meddling  without  intelligence 
or  reason  and  the  literal  interpretation  and  execution  of  regu- 
latory laws  to  which  the  fair-minded  merchants  of  the  country 
object.  They  do  not  object  to  reasonable  regulatory  statutes, 
but  they  do  seriously  object  to  the  stupid  way  in  which  these 
statutes  are  carried  out  by  the  hired  men  of  the  government, 
more  often  than  not  men  who  are  very  ignorant  of  business 
conditions  and  very  full  of  a  sense  of  their  own  importance. 
We  do  not  believe  that  the  objections  to  government  interfer- 
ence with  business  are  objections  to  the  theory  of  such  laws. 
They  are  objections  to  the  method  of  execution. 

D.   E.   Austin,  United  States   Manager   for  Henri   Nestle, 
Nestle's  Food,  New  York  City. 

Tendency  of  State  legislatures  to  enact  thoughtless  legisla- 
tion governing  interstate  trade,  without  regard  for  uniformity 
or  for  equity,  is  a  cause  of  business  disturbance.  Uncertainty 
over  the  present  status  of  all  combinations  of  capital  results  in 
lack  of  confidence  of  small  investors,  whose  money  is  needed 
for  the  free  operation  of  present  manufacturing  and  industrial 
equipment,  to  say  nothing  of  the  planning  of  new. 

I  believe  that  corporations  doing  an  interstate  business 
should  be  under  Federal  control  and  supervision  as  to  stock 
issues,  etc.,  and  therefore  I  believe  in  national  incorporation, 
or  license,  whichever  best  serves  the  purpose. 

Frank  R.  Chambers,  Firm  of  Rogers,  Peet  &  Co.,  Clothiers, 
New  York. 

A  spendthrift  nation  paying  for  its  folly  is  the  chief  of  va- 
rious causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions.  The  Sherman 
Law  is  not  very  clear,  but  experience  may  develop  its  workable 
quality.  I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  subject  to  court 
review. 


296 

Hunter,  Stevens  &  Co.,  Lumber  Merchants  and  Farmers, 
La  Salle,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  evidently  not  clear  and  workable.  It 
should  be  amended  to  accomplish  the  object  for  which  it  was 
created  without  causing  the  innocent  to  suffer  because  of  the 
guilty;  or  else  it  should  be  repealed  to  permit  the  enactment  of 
legislation  in  accord  with  present-day  conditions.  It  would  be 
neither  feasible  nor  prudent  to  return  to  old  competitive  meth- 
ods. Many  of  the  common  necessaries  of  life  are  rendered 
more  available  and  cheaper  by  modern  methods  of  business. 
We  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

As  to  the  causes  of  business  disturbance,  the  leading  cause 
undoubtedly  is  the  activity  of  the  Federal  Government  in  at- 
tempting to  enforce  the  so-called  Sherman  Law.  Some  means 
should  be  provided  whereby  exceedingly  large,  as  well  as  smaller 
legitimate  business  interests  may  lawfully  proceed  with  their 
business,  being  guaranteed  freedom  from  annoyance,  from  prose- 
cution and  persecution  under  the  pretence  of  law  enforcement. 

Let  us  have  done  with  destructive  legislation!  Let  us  have 
constructive  legislation ! 

Lucien  C.  Warner,  The  Warner  Chemical  Company,  141 
Broadway,  New  York  City. 

Disturbed  conditions  are  caused  by  uncertainty  as  to  what 
are  permissible  methods  of  business.  Capital  is  always  timid. 
Business,  when  wisely  administered,  should  yield  a  reasonable 
return  on  the  money  invested.  Under  competition  well- 
managed  business,  both  railroads  and  manufacturing,  often 
yields  no  profits  for  several  years  in  succession.  In  the  long 
run  the  public  do  not  gain  by  these  losses,  as  the  greater  the 
risk  of  business  the  greater  the  profits  sought  when  the  busi- 
ness proves  successful.  The  Sherman  Law  should  prohibit 
specifically  what  experience  has  shown  to  be  the  evils  of  large 
combinations,  such  as  one  company  owning  stock  of  another, 
one  director  serving  on  two  or  more  competing  companies, 
crushing  competition  by  unfair  means,  etc. 

Lawrence  J.  Morris,  Lawrence  Johnson  &  Co.,  Merchants, 
Philadelphia,  Pa. 

World-wide  political  unrest,  involving  the  threat  of  social- 
ism; extravagance,  national,  State,  municipal,  corporate  and 
personal;  higher  wages,  the  cost  of  which  could  not  be  passed 
on  to  the  consumer,  are  all  causes  of  disturbed  business  condi- 
tions. I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The 
interests  of  business  are  too  varied  and  complicated  for  such 
a  commission  to  handle  intelligently.  I  do  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law.  The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed 
at  this  time,  nor  until  more  indication  is  shown  of  the  power 
to  pass  and  enforce  a  better  regulating  act. 


297 

W.  F.  McLaughlin  &  Co.,  Coffees,  Chicago,  111. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  the  possibilities  of  change; 
due  to  the  correction  of  bad  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  by  making  it  stronger.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to 
the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, because  the  railroads  should  be  practically  public  prop- 
erty, and  the  same  should  apply  to  insurance  companies  and 
telegraph  and  express  companies.  We  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law. 

The  people,  including  a  big  majority  of  merchants,  want 
laws  passed  by  the  Federal  Government,  not  States,  regulat- 
ing business  of  all  kinds,  so  that  the  business  man,  firm  or  cor- 
poration would  have  to  run  the  same  in  an  honorable  manner. 
All  combinations  and  associations,  also  agreements,  between 
business  men  or  bankers  are  made  to  get  more  profit,  and  the 
consumer  has  to  pay  that  profit.  Very  few  combinations  of 
corporations  or  individuals  reduce  the  cost  of  an  article.  The 
medium  and  small  man  must  be  protected  in  some  way  from 
unprincipled  men  of  enormous  capital. 

E.    A.    Schulze,    President,    Schulze    Brothers    Company, 
Wholesale  Saddlery,  Duluth,  Minn. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  can,  generally  speaking,  be 
traced  to  Washington.  The  policy  emanating  from  that  city 
has  made  the  future  so  uncertain  that  capitalists  and  business 
men  generally  cannot  help  being  apprehensive.  Of  course,  the 
coming  presidential  election  has  a  disturbing  influence.  A  good 
deal  of  benefit,  however,  would  result  if  people  would  try  to 
forget  their  troubles,  talk  less  about  wrongs  which  they  have 
suffered,  or  think  they  have  suffered,  and  keep  busy  attending 
to  their  affairs.  The  term  of  the  President  ought  to  be  ex- 
tended to  eight  or  ten  years,  and  that  of  Congressmen  to  from 
four  to  six  years.  With  a  constitutional  amendment  to  that 
effect,  business  would  have  a  chance  to  go  ahead  without  danger 
of  an  overturn  every  two  years  or  so. 

Plumb  &  Nelson  Company,  Wholesale  Grocers,  Manitowoc, 
Wis. 

The  natural  disturbance  due  to  the  effort  of  the  big  moneyed 
interests  to  adjust  their  unlawful  enterprises  and  to  make  them 
conform  to  present  just  requirements,  is  the  cause  of  trouble. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  leave  no  ques- 
tion of  "  reasonableness "  to  the  Supreme  Court.  In  other 
words,  it  should  prohibit  all  restraint  of  trade.  Combinations 
of  farmers  should  be  permitted  within  limits.  Of  course,  a 
starvation  corner  should  be  unlawful.  I  favor  a  national  in- 
corporation law,  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 


298 

Willard  H.  Platt,  Treasurer,  Greene  Tweed  &  Co.  (Hard- 
ware), New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  or  repealed.  If  re- 
pealed, it  should  be  followed  by  some  constructive  legislation 
calling  for  regulation.  If  amended,  it  ought  to  legalize  com- 
binations and  agreements  for  control  of  prices  and  providing 
for  government  regulation  (even  to  the  control  of  prices).  The 
present  Sherman  Law  should  not  apply  to  trade  unions  or  com- 
binations of  farmers,  but  there  should  be  some  regulation  or 
supervision  of  labor  unions  and  grangers  controlling  any  given 
line  of  industry.  Care  should  be  taken,  however,  that  such 
regulation  or  supervision  should  not  be  hostile  or  used  to  lower 
the  standard  of  living  of  the  working  men  or  farmers  in 
order  to  increase  the  profits  of  employers.  All  monopolistic 
interstate  corporations  should  be  incorporated  by  the  Federal 
government  and  supervised  in  regard  to  capitalization,  etc.  All 
corporations  doing  interstate  business  should  be  subject  to  some 
supervision  so  that  the  government  can  tell  whether  or  not  they 
have  become  monopolistic.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. General  uncertainty  as  to  what  form  government 
supervision  will  take,  is  the  leading  cause  of  any  business  dis- 
turbance. 

James  W.  Cromwell,  Member  of  firm  of  William  Iselin  & 
Co.,  Dry  Goods  Commission  Merchants,  New  York 
City. 

Let  the  penalties  for  the  violation  of  the  Sherman  Law 
fall  upon  the  individual  committing  the  act,  and  not  upon  the 
corporation  beyond  the  restitution  by  the  latter  of  what  has 
been  wrongfully  gained.  Innocent  shareholders  should  not  suf- 
fer. 

Uncertainty  about  fundamental  conditions;  apprehension  of 
governmental  interference  to  stop  the  natural  operation  of  the 
laws  of  trade  under  which  the  business  of  the  country  was 
developing,  and  to  destroy  the  great  organizations,  instead  of 
supervising  and  regulating  them,  as  may  be  done  with  advan- 
tage to  all  concerned,  are  the  causes  of  disturbed  business  con- 
ditions. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

Charles  A.  Sherman,  Sherman  &  Sons  Company,  New  York 
City. 

In  industries  where  economies  can  be  affected  by  combina- 
tion, we  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  what 
are  commonly  known  as  old  competitive  methods;  but  such 
combinations  should  be  regulated  so  as  to  prevent  restriction 
of  production  and  price  control.  We  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of 
the  Sherman  Law.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  save  when  they  resort  to  violence 
and  boycott. 


299 

Irving  A.  Sibley,  Hardware  Merchant,  South  Bend,  Ind. 

Lack  of  confidence  in  the  future;  doubt  as  to  what  the  next 
Congress  may  do;  disposition  of  capitalists  to  scare  the  people 
into  favoring  their  methods;  fear  of  conditions  after  the  next 
national  election — all  contribute  to  business  disturbance.  We 
should  have  a  tariff  commission,  appointed  for  good  behavior, 
or  life,  with  power  to  act  as  necessity  demands,  and  appointed 
along  civil  service  lines.  The  term  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  should  be  longer,  and  business  interests  should 
not  be  subjected  to  these  periods  of  doubt  and  uncertainty  every 
four  years.  Elect  a  President  for  eight  or  twelve  years,  or  for 
life,  retiring  him  at  half-pay  at  a  certain  age  and  provide  for 
his  widow. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  in  all  particulars  clear  and  work- 
able. Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Pass  a  law  to 
protect  small  stockholders  in  incorporated  companies,  making 
it  criminal  to  pay  out  the  profits  of  these  corporations  in  unwar- 
ranted salaries  and  compelling  them  to  declare  just  dividends 
instead. 

E.  S.  Moore  (Shattuck  &  Jackson  Company),  Parkersburg, 
W.  Va. 

From  a  jobber's  or  distributor's  standpoint  one  large  manu- 
facturing concern,  properly  regulated,  is  more  satisfactory  than 
a  dozen  or  so  smaller  ones,  all  after  the  same  trade  and  asking 
for  recognition.  If  all  are  given  assistance  in  distributing  their 
goods,  it  means  an  endless  lot  of  brands  and  almost  certainly 
a  lot  of  dead  stock  and  the  tying  up  of  large  amounts  of  capital 
at  the  best. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The 
government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be 
passed  calling  for  publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial  cor- 
porations, through  a  commission  appointed  for  that  purpose. 

W.  J.  Holliday  &  Co.,  Iron  and  Steel  Merchants,  Indianapo- 
lis, Ind. 

During  the  past  ten  years  abnormal  conditions  have  obtained, 
owing  to  pools  and  price  agreements.  In  my  opinion,  the  pres- 
ent conditions  are  due  to  the  breaking  up  of  these  price  agree- 
ments. I  do  not  consider  present  conditions  bad,  except  for 
those  companies  with  inflated  capital,  which  have  to  make  an 
abnormal  profit  to  pay  fixed  charges.  I  consider  it  feasible  to 
return  to  old  competitive  methods.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  made  stronger.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law  under 
proper  conditions,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


300 

John  J.  Van  Nort  (Jonas  Long's  Sons'  Department  Stores), 
Scranton,  Pa. 

I  favor  Federal  incorporation  and  control  by  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission  of  companies  engaged  in  interstate  com- 
merce. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  definite.  I  am 
opposed  to  holding  companies.  The  government  should  regu- 
late capitalization.  All  "  water  "  should  be  taken  out,  if  pos- 
sible, and  none  allowed  in  the  future.  I  favor  laws  applying 
publicity  to  commercial  corporations  through  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  I  acknowledge  the  advantages  claimed  for 
those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  and  believe  that  under 
proper  and  honest  safeguards  there  are  still  other  advantages. 
Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  but  all 
such  agreements  should  be  made  public,  with  reasons  for  the 
same.  Trade  unions  should  be  controlled  by  specific  laws. 
Farmers  should  have  the  right  to  unite  in  building  elevators  or 
refrigerators  for  the  care  of  their  products.  Business  disturb- 
ance is  due  to  the  uncertainty  of  things. 

W.    A.    Smoot,   Jr.    (Smoot    &    Co.,    Coal    and    Lumber), 
Alexandria,  Va. 

There  is  a  multitude  of  clear-thinking  and  prosperous 
farmers,  merchants  and  manufacturers  in  this  country  (whose 
investments  and  influence,  in  the  aggregate,  far  exceed  those 
of  all  others)  who  are  out  of  sympathy  with  a  great  deal  that  is 
being  done  to-day,  but  who  are  healthy  and  unprejudiced  thinkers 
and  capable  of  rendering  fair  and  substantial  aid  to  a  healthy 
business  revival,  if  they  can  be  gotten  at  in  a  way  that  would 
impress  them  as  having  this  object  in  view  entirely. 

It  is  impossible  to  reach  so  large  a  number  personally,  but 
it  might  be  possible  to  reach  them  through  some  organization 
that  was  controlled  by  men  from  every  section  or  State,  who  were 
identified  with  the  business  or  farming  interests  and  who  were 
well  known  and  highly  regarded. 

This  would  be  a  vast  undertaking,  but  if  properly  worked 
out  would  organize  the  thought  (to  a  great  extent)  of  the 
element  that  needs  organizing  most  at  this  time. 

Burlington  Drug  Company,  Burlington,  Vt. 

We  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  to  be  elected  by 
the  people,  and  State  incorporation  laws  to  be  passed  on  by  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  for  companies  doing  interstate 
commerce.  The  Sherman  Act  should  be  enforced  and  have 
the  opportunity  to  prove  its  value.  We  are  opposed  to  holding 
companies.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and 
laws  should  be  passed  calling  for  publicity  applied  to  commercial 
corporations.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  chiefly  to 
tariff  agitation. 


301 

D.  Q.  Fox,  President,  The  D.  Q.  Fox  Company,  Wholesale 
Grocers,  Springfield,  Ohio. 

The  fact  that  the  large  industrial  corporations  are  not  com- 
plying with  the  requirements  of  law  is  chiefly  the  cause  of  any 
business  disturbance.  Most  of  them  are  on  a  wrong  basis,  and 
the  present  attitude  of  the  government  as  to  the  enforcement 
of  the  law  would  naturally  disturb  such  business  conditions. 
Furthermore,  they  ought  to  be  disturbed,  and  the  government 
should  stand  firm  in  its  position  until  the  wrongs  are  made 
right,  and  every  corporation  is  compelled  to  do  business  accord- 
ing to  law.  It  would  be  ruinous  to  return  to  what  are  called 
old  competitive  methods.  Unrestrained  competition  would 
mean  the  return  of  conditions  as  they  existed  in  1893.  If 
amended,  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  more  specific  in 
regard  to  certain  definite  practices.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

No  matter  what  large  corporations  and  combinations  may 
say  and  claim,  they  have  but  one  object  in  view  and  that  is: 
larger  dividends — or  rather,  larger  profits,  as  a  basis  for  a  larger 
capitalization  on  which  dividends  must  be  paid.  The  public 
has  never  yet  and  never  will  reap  any  benefit  from  the  formation 
of  a  large  corporation  to  absorb  a  lot  of  smaller  concerns. 

H.  Weinstock,  Merchant,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

I  favor  national  incorporation.  I  believe  in  holding  com- 
panies if  they  can  be  allowed  to  remain,  without  tending  to 
create  private  monopolies.  The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  is,  in 
my  judgment,  sufficient  to  deal  with  unfair  competition  and 
restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should  regulate  capitali- 
zation, forbidding  the  issue  of  stock  that  represents  "water," 
pure  and  simple.  Publicity  should  be  applied  to  all  corpora- 
tions which  offer  stock  to  the  public,  but  not  to  other  private 
corporations;  I  doubt  the  claim  of  steadier  employment  of  labor 
and  better  wages,  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale.  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  to  control  all  corpora- 
tions whose  stock  is  offered  for  sale  to  the  public. 

Samuel  Mahon,  Wholesale  Grocer,  Ottumwa,  Iowa. 

Overcapitalization  and  consequent  overtrading;  the  agitation 
resulting  from  these  conditions,  causing  uncertainty  in  legiti- 
mate business,  are  the  causes  of  present  disturbance.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion as  an  experiment.  The  business  of  wholesale  grocers  is  now 
competitive,  and  we  still  live  and  manage  to  get  along.  Trade 
unions  should  not  be  exempt  from  trie  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Act,  nor  should  combinations  of  farmers,  to  restrict  production 
or  hold  for  higher  prices,  be  made  lawful — note  the  Kentucky 
tobacco  raids. 


302 

W.  L.  Milner,  Merchant,  Toledo,  Ohio. 

Primarily  agitation  by  the  railroads  for  higher  rates;  the 
present  transitory  state  of  the  tariff  movement ;  politics,  and  the 
activity  of  the  government  in  prosecuting  trusts  are  the  causes 
of  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Act  can  only  correct  a 
fault  after  it  has  occurred.  A  Federal  incorporation  court  can 
prevent  misuse  of  power.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  consider  it  doubtful 
that  we  could  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in  business. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed,  unless  something 
better  replaces  it.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates.  I  believe  in  stronger  Federal  gov- 
ernment controlling  all  those  matters  not  local  to  the  States, 
such  as  bankruptcy,  divorce,  etc. 

George   J.    Gensman,    Hardware    and    Implement    Dealer, 
Enid,  Okla. 

Uncertainty  of  capital  as  to  the  future  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment; the  carelessness  of  the  general  public  during  our  past 
period  of  prosperity — these,  in  my  judgment,  are  the  principal 
causes  of  any  disturbance  now  existing  in  business.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  repealed.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  not 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act;  neither 
should  combinations  of  farmers,  so  far  as  restricting  production 
or  holding  crops.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  if 
such  a  law  should  not  be  enforced,  then  I  favor  a  Federal  license 
law.  I  also  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Z.  P.  Bennett  (Phelps,  Lewis  &  Bennett  Company),  Whole- 
sale Hardware,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa. 

Business  is  all  right.  Only  the  stock  gamblers  are  suffering 
from  their  own  folly.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended 
so  that  a  combination  will  know  when  it  is  breaking  the  law. 
And  make  prison  sentences  for  the  officials  compulsory  and  spare 
the  clerks  and  other  employees.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  which  should  be  given 
sufficient  power,  so  that  every  decision  they  render  would  not 
have  to  be  revised  in  courts  for  months  and  years. 

George   D.    Dayton,    Merchant   and   Banker,   Minneapolis, 
Minn. 

The  Sherman  Law  will  be  made  clear  and  workable,  in  pro- 
portion as  corporations  adjust  themselves  to  it.  I  am  empha- 
tically opposed  to  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  or  to  its 
amendment.  I  believe  in  giving  President  Taft  time  to  work 
out  his  ideas.  He  and  all  of  us  are  learning  as  we  go  along. 
He  is  trying  to  do  well  for  the  country  and  will  accomplish 
much  if  permitted  to. 


303 

Harry  B.  French,  President,  Smith,  Kline  &  French  Com- 
pany, Wholesale  Druggist,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  necessary  correction  of  trust  abuses ;  teaching  capitalists' 
that  they  are  subject  to  them  all — these,  in  my  judgment,  are 
the  principal  causes  of  any  disturbance  in  business.  The  Sher- 
man Law  under  the  recent  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  is  clear  and  workable  and,  emphatically,  should 
not  be  repealed.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Business  on  a  large 
scale  is  absolutely  necessary.  I  believe  in  holding  companies, 
under  limitations  prescribed  strictly  by  law.  In  regard  to  the 
protection  of  minority  stockholders,  I  believe  that  control  of  a 
company  should  not  be  transferred  without  giving  minority 
stockholders  a  right  to  participate. 

Joseph  Lindauer  (Herman  Bros.,  Lindauer  &  Co.,  Whole- 
sale  Drygoods),   Nashville,  Tenn. 

Extravagance  on  the  part  of  the  masses ;  the  protective  tariff, 
putting  too  much  of  the  country's  wealth  in  the  hands  of  a 
few,  are,  in  my  judgment,  the  principal  causes  of  disturbed 
business  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to 
make  it  more  specific;  in  regulating  the  output  of  any  single 
corporation,  and  also,  when  necessary,  regulating  prices.  Eail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
and  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  permitted.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

Hirsch  Bros.  Drygoods  Company,  St.  Joseph,  Missouri. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  any  disturbance  of  a  national  char- 
acter exists  at  present,  excepting  the  fact  that,  through  the  con- 
centration of  the  money  interests,  disturbance  can  be  con- 
tinually manipulated.  The  Sherman  Law  has  proven  itself 
insufficient  to  control  the  corporations.  We  are  not,  however, 
in  favor  of  its  repeal.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 
Admitting  other  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  we  question  the  correctness  of  the  claim  of 
steadier  employment  of  labor  and  of  better  wages. 

C.  F.  Jackson,  Department  Stores,  Norwalk,  Ohio. 

Socialism  and  labor  unions  are  the  causes  of  business  dis- 
turbance. I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation 
of  the  Sherman  Act;  neither  should  combinations  of  farmers, 
either  to  restrict  production  or  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices. 
I  favor  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 


304 

A.  Stamford  White,  Export  Merchant,  Grain  and  Provis- 
ions, Chicago,  111. 

The  government  should  recognize  its  responsibility  in  hav- 
ing allowed  large  corporations,  like  the  Steel  Company,  to  grow 
up  without  any  action  under  the  Sherman  Law.  It  is  wrong 
to  disintegrate  it  at  this  late  date  and  sacrifice  thousands  of 
innocent  stockholders.  The  law  should  be  made  clear,  and  if 
any  officers  are  hereafter  guilty  of  wrongdoing  they  should  be 
punished  individually.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended 
to  make  it  possible  to  punish  the  individual  officers  of  corpora- 
tions who  are  responsible  for  a  violation  of  the  law,  or  who  are 
guilty  of  wrongful  methods  adopted  to  drive  people  out  of  busi- 
ness. 

S.  E.  Slade,  Lumber,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  more  elastic 
and  to  put  combinations  under  absolute  government  control.  I 
think  there  is  much  merit  in  the  law.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  uniform  and  under  government  con- 
trol; also  a  Federal  license  law,  to  supersede  State  license  laws. 

If  there  is  a  lumber  trust,  the  government  should  so  advise 
the  people,  but  if,  after  spending  much  public  money  in  en- 
deavoring to  find  a  lumber  trust,  the  government  has  failed  to 
discover  one,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  government  to  so  advise  the 
public. 

R.  J.  Caldwell,  Merchant,  New  York  City. 

I  favor  compulsory  national  incorporation,  which,  however, 
would  be  idle  without  a  National  Commerce  Court  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  of  strong,  able,  patriotic  and  true  men, 
whose  duty  shall  be  to  prevent  abuses,  and  with  ample  power  to 
enforce  their  decisions. 

Unrestrained  competition  is  the  death  of  trade.  Self-pres- 
ervation is  the  first  law  of  life,  and  legislators  make  themselves 
ridiculous  in  trying  to  suspend  natural  law.  Our  legislatures 
have  but  to  study  Germany  if  they  would  render  real  relief.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  supplemented  with  wise  legislation,  its 
operation  being  meanwhile  suspended. 

W.  T.  Reaugh,'  Boots  and  Shoes,  Jacksonville,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable  and  "should  be 
amended.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  and  combinations  of  farmers,  to  hold  a  crop  for 
higher  prices,  should  be  lawful.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

I  believe  in  revising  the  Sherman  Act,  whereby  corporations 
may  make  agreements  that  would  enable  them  to  realize  legiti- 
mate profits,  but  not  to  practice  extortion. 


305 

J.  T.  Ross,  Merchant,  Astoria,  Ore. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  partly  to  the  action  of 
the  government  under  the  Sherman  Law,  but  also  to  a  general 
unrest  and  feeling  that  there  must  be  a  readjustment.  Prices 
are  too  high  in  comparison  to  wages  paid  to  common  labor.  The 
Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable,  and  should  be  amended 
in  such  a  way  as  not  to  hinder  legitimate  business,  however 
large,  but  to  prevent  monopolistic  trusts  from  controlling  busi- 
ness and  making  unreasonable  profits.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  a  Federal  license  law.  It  does  not  seem  to  me 
that  small  corporations  should  be  included.  Eetail  business 
should  not  be  fettered  with  numerous  unnecessary  restrictions, 
which  might  be  all  right  applied  to  large  corporations. 

Horace  Davis  (retired  from  business),  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

I  am  not  wise  enough  to  suggest  adequate  remedies,  but  I 
see  clearly  enough  that  giant  trade  corporations  must  be  con- 
trolled and  checked  or  we  shall  have  socialism  pure  and  simple. 
If  worst  comes  to  worst,  I  would  rather  be  ruled  by  the  people 
than  by  Eockefeller,  Carnegie  and  Morgan.  There  must  be  some 
middle  ground  where  we  can  live  in  peace.  We  have  brought 
the  transportation  monopolies  to  reason;  the  trade  monopolies 
must  follow  suit. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Oil  and  Steel  and 
Tobacco  are  as  much  monopolies  as  transportation.  I  see  no 
other  way  for  the  weak  individual  to  cope  with  the  powerful 
monopoly.  It  is  odious,  but  must  be  endured. 

E.  P.  Loomis  &  Co.,  Barrel  Apples,  New  York. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  rapidly  becoming  clear  and  workable 
and  will  be  entirely  so  with  the  decision  of  the  Steel  Trust 
suit.  It  should  be  amended  to  show  clearly  what  percentage 
of  any  business  is  permissible  and  what  combinations  are  legal. 
The  railroads  already  universally  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  by  means  of  their  traffic  association,  and  these  agree- 
ments should  be  permitted.  As.  to  combinations  of  farmers, 
no  combination  such  as  that  existed  which  had  any  binding 
power  on  farmers,  and  farmers  have  never  acted  except  as  indi- 
viduals. Why  mention  them  specifically?  Such  mention  looks 
like  playing  politics.  The  same  applies  to  labor  unions. 

Harry  G.  Euwer,  Merchant,  New  Castle,  Pa. 

The  cause  and  creator  of  trusts  is  the  high  protective  tariff. 
It  is  a  foolish,  short-sighted,  dishonest  policy  for  any  nation. 
We  are  now  paying  the  penalty  for  our  many  years  of  high 
tariff,  the  same  as  the  Civil  War  paid  the  penalty  for  slavery. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  and  we  should  have  free 
trade.  This  would  do  more  to  cure  the  trusts  than  anything 
else. 


306 

Carl   Colby,   Colby   Bros.   &   Co.,   Merchants,  Abbotsford, 
Wis. 

A  lack  of  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  public  caused  by 
investigations  and  disclosures  of  the  past  few  years  and  fear 
on  the  part  of  capitalists  and  employers  of  labor  to  expand 
their  business  and  increase  their  investments  on  account  of  not 
knowing  how  future  legislation  will  affect  them,  have  brought 
about  present  conditions.  While  evil  conditions  in  the  business 
world  should  be  righted,  it  should  also  be  looked  to  that  those 
corporations  or  individuals  who  are  honestly  trying  to  conform 
to  the  spirit  of  the  law  should  be  protected  and  encouraged 
whether  they  are  of  large  capital  or  not. 

C.  K.  David,  Ronaldson  &  Puckett  Company,  Ltd.,  Whole- 
sale Grocers,  Baton  Rouge,  La. 

Let  the  Sherman  Law  take  care  of  itself.  We  do  not  need 
any  more  legislation.  Simply  stop  passing  laws.  Let  the  State 
attend  to  corporations.  I  admit  the  advantages  claimed  for 
those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale.  So  long  as  the  consumer 
is  not  injured  by  their  methods,  let  them  alone.  Supervision 
to  protect  the  consumer  is  all  we  need.  Competition  should 
control  the  trusts,  coupled  with  the  natural  evolutions  of  busi- 
ness in  this  country.  Injury  to  the  consumer  is  more  imagina- 
tive than  real. 

William   Taylor,    Vice-President,   John   Taylor    Drygoods 
Company,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

I  consider  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed,  unless  we  can  get  a  law 
that  is  clearer;  that  covers  the  ground  the  Sherman  Law  was 
intended  to  cover  in  a  more  effective  way.  Eailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  na- 
tional incorporation,  a  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  Present  uncertain  business  conditions  are  due 
to  the  fact  that  so  many  people,  instead  of  talking  optimistically, 
are  talking  pessimistically. 

Daniel  Stewart  Company,  Wholesale  Druggists,  Indianapo- 
lis, Ind. 

Uncertainty  as  to  prospective  legislation  and  the  enactment 
of  the  Aldrich  tariff  bill  are  the  causes  of  disturbed  business 
conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  its 
provisions  may  be  clearly  understood,  and  to  put  it  on  lines 
suggested  by  recent  decisions.  Eailroads  should  certainly  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  enacted 
applying  publicity  to  commercial  corporations. 


307 

John  W.  May,  Merchant,  Alexandria,  Va. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  too  much  specula- 
tion on  paper,  with  no  delivery  of  actual  value;  too  many 
articles  in  newspapers  and  magazines  by  ignorant  and  careless 
writers  whose  ideas  seem  to  be  to  fill  space  and  draw  salary. 
These  writers  are  not  familiar  with  or  experienced  with  the 
manufactured  articles  about  which  they  write.  All  bucket  shops 
should  be  closed.  All  whitewash  deals  on  stock  exchanges  and 
boards  of  trade  should  be  prohibited.  All  trades  in  grains 
should  be  required  to  deliver  the  actual  grain.  All  stock  trades 
should  be  compelled  to  deliver  the  actual  stock.  Eailroads, 
factories  and  all  corporations  should  be  prohibited  from  issuing 
watered  stock.  No  stocks  should  be  issued,  except  for  actual 
value  received.  No  promoter  should  be  allowed  any  stock  until 
a  company  has  been  run  successfully  five  years. 

The     Bostwick-Braun     Company,     Wholesale     Hardware, 
Toledo,  Ohio, 

Uncertainty  as  to  how  far-reaching  would  be  Federal  and 
State  legislation  adverse  to  railroad  and  other  large  corporate 
bodies  causes  business  anxiety  and  hesitation.  Also  the  pres- 
ent disturbed  conditions  are  largely  the  result  of  the  period  of 
artificially  sustained  prices,  through  which  we  have  passed.  The 
large  profits  vvhich  these  prices  created  tempted  manufac- 
turers to  unduly  expand  their  plants,  until  in  many  lines  there 
is  a  large  overproduction.  The  so-called  trusts  are  controlling 
in  many  lines  a  smaller  percentage  of  the  production  each  year, 
and  the  trust  problem  is  gradually  solving  itself,  which  it  must 
do,  unless  there  is  a  monopoly  of  the  supply  of  raw  material, 
or  of  the  means  of  transportation. 

Wheeler   &   Motter  Mercantile  Company,  Wholesale  Dry 
Goods,  St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  so  amended  that  there  will 
be  no  opportunity  to  misconstrue  its  meaning.  Give  the  courts 
a  definite  law  which  need  not  be  construed.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Act.  The  farmer  should  not  be  hampered;  he  should  have  the 
privilege  to  sell  or  hold  his  crop,  but  should  not  have  the  privi- 
lege to  combine.  Present  disturbed  conditions  in  business  are 
due  to  extravagance  in  living,  tariff  agitation,  and  the  timidity 
of  capital.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

George  P.  Smith,  Wholesale  Grocer,  Dubuque,  Iowa. 

Too  much  political  influence  and  too  little  good  business 
sense  in  recent  legislation,  are  the  causes  of  trouble.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  modified  to  meet  present  industrial  and 
commercial  conditions.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


308 

Joseph  Home  Company,  Department  Store,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Congress  monkeying  with  business;  politics  and  the  politi- 
cal necessities  of  all  politicians;  uncertainty  as  to  what  the 
Sherman  Law  means;  unrest  among  the  people  caused  by  high 
cost  of  living — all  tend  to  unsettle  business.  It  is  a  mani- 
fest absurdity  that  a  law  passed  for  political  reasons  and  for 
effect  twenty  years  ago,  and  which  was  never  intended  to  do 
anything;  which  was  allowed  to  remain  inactive  for  fifteen 
years,  and  was  made  in  a  different  business  era,  should  now, 
under  greatly  changed  conditions,  be  the  test  of  the  legality 
of  reasonable  business  consolidations.  We  favor  a  national  in- 
corporation law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  lim- 
ited power. 

Frederick  Victor  &  Achelis,  New  York  City. 

We  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  If  attempt  should 
be  made  to  amend  the  Sherman  Law,  it  would  most  likely  re- 
sult in  an  utter  failure.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law.  A  Federal  license  law  imposing  a  moderate  fee  for  the 
purpose  of  revenue  would  be  advisable.  An  Interstate  Trade 
Commission,  composed  mostly  of  practical  people  and  not  too 
many  politicians,  might  be  a  good  move.  In  our  judgment,  the 
present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  the  politi- 
cal upheaval  in  Washington.  We  have  altogether  too  much 
political  interference  with  business  and  too  many  laws  calcu- 
lated to  injure  and  hamper  business. 

Sanders,  Orr  &  Co.,  Cotton  Merchants,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

Politics.  Politics.  Too  much  politics.  Too  much  La  Fol- 
lette,  Champ  Clark  &  Company,  are  the  causes  of  business 
disturbance.  We  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. There  is  an  "  over-production  "  of  commissions  now.  We 
favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Trades  unions  should  not 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act  so  long 
as  they  are  destroyers  of  property.  Farmers  should  be  per- 
mitted to  restrict  production  or  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices. 
They  don't  have  to  pTant  a  crop,  neither  should  they  be  com- 
pelled to  sell  it.  If  they  pay  their  bills  for  supplies  furnished 
by  merchants,  certainly  the  surplus  is  their  own. 

R.  V.  Covington,  President,  Covington  Company,  Whole- 
sale Dry  Goods,  Jacksonville,  Fla. 

Corruption  in  politics;  uncertainty  of  legislation  affecting 
capital;  trade  unions  and  inefficiency  of  the  Sherman  Law  are 
disturbing  elements  in  the  business  world.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  made  specific,  not  subject  to  interpretation  by  judges. 
Trade  unions  should  not  be  exempt  from  its  operation,  but  com- 
binations of  farmers  should  be  permitted.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


309 

F.  B.  Thomas  &  Co.,  Dry  Goods,  Etc.,  Roanoke,  Va. 

Special  privileges  that  have  enriched  the  minority  at  the 
expense  of  the  majority,  fostered  by  unreasonable  tariff  and 
patent  laws  that  should  be  corrected  or  repealed  without  delay; 
the  ability  to  manipulate  commodities  and  securities  by  tele- 
graph, telephone  and  government  posts — all  these  conditions 
tend  to  undermine  honest,  straightforward  business,  and  to  im- 
pair public  confidence  in  the  security  and  the  integrity  of  busi- 
ness interests.  If  the  Sherman  Law  had  been  enforced  from  the 
beginning  it  would  be  unnecessary  to  ask  whether  it  is  clear 
and  workable.  As  to  competitive  methods,  it  ought  to  be  enough 
to  say  that  competition  is  the  life  of  trade.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  by  adding  criminal  penalties,  and  the 
authorities  should  enforce  those  penalties.  All  the  advantages 
of  business  on  a  large  scale  are  in  favor  of  the  large-scale  oper- 
ator. The  benefits  to  the  consumer  are  not  in  proportion  to  the 
saving. 

James  O.  Bloss,  Retired  Merchant,  New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  may  be  "clear  and  workable,"  i.  e.,  en- 
forceable, but  it  is  stifling  to  enterprise  and  endeavor.  Instead 
of  the  Sherman  Law  we  ought  to  have  a  law  to  clearly  define 
what  corporations  might  not  do,  not  in  general  but  specific 
terms,  following  the  rule  of  the  ten  commandments.  I  believe 
it  would  help,  it  being  conceded  that  what  is  not  prohibited  is 
permissible.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  I  see  no  objection  to  making  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  Federal  license  permissible. 

The  enforcement  of  the  Sherman  Law  has  brought  about 
disturbance  in  business.  It  may  be  that  corporations  should  not 
be  permitted  to  run  riot,  but  there  is  such  a  thing  as  feeding 
a  horse  shavings  to  such  a  point  that  he  dies  before  he  gets  used 
to  his  food. 

George  W.  Collord,  Retired,  New  York  City. 

I  am  in  favor  of  a  national  incorporation  law,  drawn  up  by 
a  commission  consisting  of  merchants,  manufacturers  and  law- 
yers, without  political  interference.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law,  or  if  it  is  to  be  amended,  make  it  plain  just  what 
corporations  should  do  and  what  they  should  not.  Combinations 
of  farmers  should  be  lawful. 

V.  J.  Freudenthal,  Merchant,  El  Paso,  Texas. 

The  Sherman  Law  might  be  made  more  clear  in  some 
respects,  providing  the  corporation  attorneys  do  not  do  the 
amending.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable. 
The  desire  of  some  individuals  to  monopolize  the  earth  is  the 
chief  cause  of  business  disturbance.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  and  a  Federal  license  law. 


310 

Frank  B.  Peterson,  Wholesale  Grocer,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

We  should  have  Federal  legislation,  compelling  national 
incorporation  and  uniform  State  laws,  if  possible.  One  com- 
pany should  not  be  allowed  to  hold  a  majority  of  stock  in  an- 
other or,  possibly,  stock  of  a  company  in  the  same  line  of  busi- 
ness; e.  g.,  as  a  great  many  companies  carry  their  own  goods, 
it  is  necessary  for  them  to  invest  the  reserve  funds.  This  is 
an  instance  where  no  harm  is  intended  or  done.  I  favor  govern- 
ment regulation  of  capitalization  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  unwise  legisla- 
tion to  correct  abuses;  to  agitation  by  demagogues  and  to 
unjust  discrimination  against  corporations,  whether  monopolies 
or  not. 

J.  M.  Comstock,  Vice-President,  Spokane  Dry  Goods  Com- 
pany, Spokane,  Wash. 

The  present  political  situation  and  the  prosecution  of  the 
trusts  by  the  government  are  unquestionably  strong  factors  in 
disturbing  or  retarding  present  business  conditions.  Give  us 
presidential  elections  once  in  eight  years  and  only  two  sessions 
of  Congress  during  that  time,  and  good  times  will  be  almost 
continuous.  If  it  is  properly  within  the  legislative  domain 
to  arrange  words  so  as  to  exactly  define  what  a  violation  of 
the  Sherman  Law  is,  I  would  favor  such  an  amendment.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law,  and 
I  think  that  something  in  the  nature  of  an  .Interstate  Trade 
Commission  is  very  desirable. 

Dudley  M.  Irwin,  Grain  Merchant  and  Manufacturer.  Buf- 
falo, N.  Y. 

I  favor  Federal  law  governing  corporations  doing  an  inter- 
state business,  similar  to  the  national  banking  law,  insuring  the 
publishing  of  statements  and  national  supervision. 

What  is  most  needed  to-day  is  a  wise,  honest,  square  busi- 
ness-man's government.  Less  muckraking,  more  business-men 
in  Congress,  fewer  lawyers  and  fewer  professional  politician? 
are  what  the  country  requires.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
law,  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

Charles  C.  Hitchcock  (Department  Store),  Author  of  "  The 
Socialist  Argument,"  Ware,  Mass. 

To  attempt  to  prevent  combination  or  concentration  in  indus- 
tries is  on  a  par  with  an  attempt  to  prevent  invention  in  ma- 
chinery and  when  invented  to  destroy  machinery  (as  was  the 
case  in  the  early  days  of  machine  production).  Combination 
to  the  fullest  extent  is  in  line  with  economic  evolution.  Over- 
see and  control  the  trusts  as  to  capitalization,  price,  profits, 
even  wages — until  the  people  are  ready  to  assume  their  owner- 
ship and  control. 


311 

W.  M.  Hoyt  Company,  Wholesale  Grocers,  by  R.  J.  Ben- 
nett, Vice-President,  Chicago,  111. 

Overcapitalization  of  public  utilities  and  manufacturing  en- 
terprises, making  dividends  difficult,  and  the  unreasonable  de- 
mands of  labor  unions  are  the  causes  of  any  disturbance  in 
business  conditions.  We  fear  that  the  Sherman  Law  is  not 
clear,  and  we  favor  its  amendment  so  as  to  make  it  clear  and 
also  fair,  if  it  is  not  already  fair.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission.  We  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law.  As  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  we  have  no 
clear  opinion,  but  do  not  approve  increased  governmental  ma- 
chinery. 

H.   Michaels,  President,  Langley  &  Michaels,  Merchants, 
San  Francisco,  Cal. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  and  am  opposed  to  holding 
companies.  I  also  favor  laws  to  provide  government  regulation 
of  capitalization.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  We  believe  that  the  best  results 
in  production  and  economy  of  cost  are  only  possible  with  the 
open  shop.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it 
clear  and  remove  the  uncertainties  which  now  exist.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Business  disturb- 
ance is  due  to  commercial  conditions  aggravated  or  greatly  in- 
flamed by  an  unnecessarily  high  tariff. 

Fred  Schuette,  Merchant,  Manitowoc,  Wis. 

I  don't  think  business  is  disturbed  quite  as  badly  as  gen- 
erally stated.  It  might  be  very  much  worse.  Such  disturb- 
ance as  exists  is  due  to  unsettled  tariff  schedules,  to  necessary 
prosecutions  of  corporations  or  rather  of  trusts  and  other  causes 
too  many  to  mention.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended 
to  allow  corporations  to  expand  within  certain  limits,  and  rail- 
roads should  be  permitted  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor 
most  decidedly  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  I  am  also  in 
favor  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Charles  Leich  &  Co.,  Wholesale  Druggists,  Evansville,  Ind. 

We  believe  that  combinations  and  pools  under  Federal  super- 
vision will  restore  confidence  and  prosperity.  Agitation  and 
uncertainty  are  the  causes  of  existing  disturbance.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be,  repealed.  We  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 


312 

E.  S.  Bowen,  Treasurer,  Newell  Coal  and  Lumber  Company, 

Pawtucket,  R.  I. 

Trusts,  " trust  busters"  and  also  overproduction  of  manu- 
facturers, in  addition  to  the  general  uncertainty  as  to  the  out- 
come of  present  attempts  to  enforce  the  Sherman  Law,  are  dis- 
turbing the  business  community.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  made  constructive,  instead  of  destructive.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  a  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

S.  Herman,  Merchant,  Oshkosh,  Wis. 

The  causes  of  business  disturbance  are:  First,  the  unre- 
stricted issuing  of  stock  by  public  utilities  corporations;  second, 
industrial  monopolies  created  and  sustained  by  a  prohibitory 
tariff,  and  a  consequent  high  cost  of  living;  third,  increasing 
uneasiness  on  the  part  of  the  people,  brought  about  largely  by 
the  above-named  causes,  and  foreshadowing  that  changes  are 
imminent.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  as  outlined 
by  Senator  La  Follette  in  a  bill  which  he  introduced  in  the 
Senate  August  19,  1911.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

F.  Coit  Johnson,  Merchant,  J.  H.  Lane  &  Co.,  New  York 

City. 

Trust  prosecutions  and  tariff  uncertainties  are  chiefly  the 
causes  of  business  disturbance.  There  are  also  too  many  legal 
and  legislative  interferei-jes  with  business  stability.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  act.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended.  The  results  of  the  United  States  Steel,  Harvester 
and  similar  cases  should  indicate  in  what  particular  amend- 
ments are  desirable  to  enable  large  corporations  to  operate  eco- 
nomically and  efficiently,  but  without  injury  to  the  public.  Eail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

Agnew  &  Co.,  Merchants,  Wholesale,  in  Hides,  Skins,  Pelts, 
Tallow  and  Wool,  Port  Henry,  N.  Y.,  and  Boston 
Mass. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Business  disturbance  is  due 
mostly  to  political  tomfoolery  or  political  buncombe,  such  as 
foolish  and  unwarranted  attacks  on  the  tariff.  Let  the  Tariff 
Commission  have  entire  charge  of  adjusting  tariff  changes.  Let 
it  be  done  scientifically.  In  the  political  world  (in  the  United 
States)  there  has  been  too  radical  a  stand  taken  by  some  Be- 
publicans  and  many  Democrats  for  the  good  of  this  country's 
best  business  interests. 


313 

Yahr  &  Lange  Drug  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

We  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable. 
It  is  not,  in  our  opinion,  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods  in  business.  We  favor  the  stand  taken  by  Senator 
Cummins  (see  "  Chicago  Record-Herald,"  November  18,  1911). 
We  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law  is  inadequate  to  meet  present 
conditions.  We  believe  in  the  strict  regulation  of  all  combi- 
nations between  allied  commercial  and  industrial  interests. 
There  are  combinations  which  are  detrimental  to  the  public 
welfare;  there  are  also  combinations  which  are  in  the  interest 
of  the  public.  The  public  has  a  right  to  demand  goods  at 
reasonable  rates,  and  the  producer  has  a  right  to  a  reasonable 
earning  on  the  investment  and  a  proper  compensation  for  time 
and  effort. 

Delayed  activity  on  the  part  of  the  government — violations 
of  the  law  should  not  have  been  allowed  at  any  time — is  chiefly 
responsible  for  the  present  uncertainty  in  business.  We  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Julius   Mautner,   Mautner  &   Ahlswede,  Furs,   New   York 
City. 

We  find  no  business  disturbance,  only  natural  retrenchment 
from  overproduction,  as  it  always  happens  in  this  country  after 
years  of  continued  prosperity.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be 
repealed.  If  not  repealed,  it  should  be  amended  so  that  mer- 
chants, or  any  industrial  corporation,  should  share  alike  and 
be  made  alike  to  pay  the  same  rates  without  any  rebates,  and 
that  taxes  should  be  payable  according  to  incomes.  We  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

Brown  &  Adams,  Wool,  Boston,  Mass. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  if  necessary  to  secure  stable  conditions.  Un- 
certainty is  at  the  bottom  of  the  present  feeling  of  business  ap- 
prehension. And  the  two  principal  causes  of  this  uncertainty 
are  doubts  regarding  the  interpretation  of  the  Sherman  Law 
and  the  possibility  of  important  tariff  changes.  Capital  is  timid 
and  fearful.  The  Sherman  Law  should  have  its  meaning  made 
clear.  When  that  meaning  is  made  clear,  it  may  prove  to  be 
too  obnoxious  to  be  satisfactory. 

C.  F.  Adams  Company,  Merchandise,  Erie,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  or  workable,  and  should  be 
amended  so  as  to  make  its  intent  plain  to  everyone.  Railroads 
should  not  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 
Sherman  Law,  and  combinations  of  farmers,  to  restrict  produc- 
tion by  holding  crops  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  lawful. 
We  favor  national  incorporation  and  Federal  license. 


314 

Morris  Stern,  Ullman,  Stern  &  Krausse,  Merchants,  Gal- 
veston,  Tex. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  permit  con- 
solidations and  combinations  in  all  walks  of  business  under  the 
control  of  a  national  commission. 

Our  trusts  were  based  on  the  German  "  Kartell "  system, 
which  is  still  in  vogue  under  successful  control  of  the  German 
government,  while  in  the  United  States  it  became  abused  and 
needed  to  be  curbed.  Stop  overcapitalization;  let  actual  values 
and  money,  not  good  will  or  fictitious  values,  comprise  capital, 
with  fixed  prices  and  selling  agreements  as  a  proper  protection 
against  unfair  and  ruinous  competition.  These  can  be  controlled 
to  remain  in  line  of  reasonable  profit  only.  A  United  States 
Trade  Commission  should  have  the  necessary  powers  and  access 
at  any  time  to  the  books  of  all  concerns. 

A.  G.  Rhodes  &  Son,  Mercantile,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

The  unsettled  condition  of  the  tariff  question  is,  in  our 
opinion,  largely  responsible  for  disturbed  business  conditions, 
although,  we  believe,  local  conditions  have  a  great  deal  to  do 
with  it — for  instance,  the  low  price  of  cotton  in  this  section. 

We  do  not  favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law.  Any  law 
made  would  have  to  go  through  with  what  the  Sherman  Law 
has  gone  through,  and  it  seems  better  to  stay  where  we  are  than 
to  go  back  and  start  over.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  for  how  could  a  receiving  line 
give  a  through  rate  otherwise?  We  believe  our  laws  sufficient, 
and  if  they  are  enforced  regardless  of  person  or  prestige,  noth- 
ing more  will  be  necessary. 

Carl  F.  Boker  (Hermann  Boker  &  Co.,  Steel  Hardware), 
New   York   City. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  which  is  neither  clear 
nor  workable.  It  is  not  feasible,  in  my  opinion,  to  return  to 
what  are  commonly  known  as  old  competitive  methods.  Kail- 
roads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
and  combinations  of  farmers,  to  secure  fair  prices  for  their  prod- 
ucts, should  be  lawful.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Law. 

W.  F.  Graves  (Graves  Lumber  Company),  Hosford,  Fla. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable.  I  consider  it  feas- 
ible to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in  business.  The  only 
change  in  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  to  make  it  more  effective. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation 
of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  per- 
mitted only  to  retaliate  against  other  combined  interests. 


315 

Samuel  Robert,  Merchant  and  Importer,  New  York  City. 

I  object  to  the  persistent  attempt  to  win  more  powers  for 
the  general  government.  Our  country  has  not  been  taught  that 
a  paternal  or  centralized  government,  which  is  practically  the 
same  thing,  is  the  most  desirable.  Bather  should  that  part  of 
the  Constitution  be  strengthened  which  provides  for  free  com- 
merce, and  free  intercourse  between  the  States  be  enlarged  upon, 
and  every  State  compelled  to  recognize  every  lawful  body  or  cor- 
poration of  every  other  State  and  not  permitted  to  legislate 
against  it. 

John  S.  Lawrence,  Merchant,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear,  but  not  enforceable;  the  pre- 
mium on  checking  it  is  too  great.  It  should  be  repealed,  and 
regulation  and  national  incorporation  should  be  substituted. 
The  present  disturbance  in  business  is  caused  by  house-cleaning 
on  the  part  of  the  government,  which  has  brought  to  light  many 
obnoxious  practices  on  the  part  of  "  big  business/'  But  I  doubt 
if  the  house-cleaning  has  yet  gone  far  enough  for  its  results 
to  be  open  to  inspection. 

J.  L.  Oestmann,  Treasurer,  Jas.  S.  Kirk  &  Co.,  Chemists, 
Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable  and  not  in  need 
of  amendment.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Con- 
fusion attending  dissolution  of  the  trusts,  but  primarily  due 
to  the  permission  given  to  organize  trusts  and  monopolies,  has 
caused  business  disturbance.  I  think  that  a  new  law  should 
be  enacted  regulating  the  trusts  similar  to  the  way  that  the 
railroads  are  regulated,  and  that  such  a  law  would  be  in  order 
and  better  than  dissolving  them. 

A.  S.  Aronson,  Credit  Manager  for  Frankel  Bros.,   New 
York  City. 

Our  attorney-general  is  entirely  too  active  and  has  little  or 
no  regard  for  the  consequences  of  his  acts.  Congress  should 
adjourn  for  about  four  years;  it  might  help  by  saving  us  from 
a  great  deal  of  harmful  legislation.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  clearly  defined,  so  that  large  interests  may  know  what  they 
have  to  comply  with.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
Federal  license  and  an.  Interstate  Trade  Commission 

Charles  Perry,  Hotel   Keeper,  The   Rainier- Grand  Hotel, 
Seattle,  Wash. 

The  wide  publicity  of  exaggerated  conditions  is  the  chief 
cause  of  any  existing  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law, 
in  our  judgment,  is  clear  and  workable.  Kailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 


316 

I.  S.  Coffin,  Merchant,  New  York. 

This  country  possessed  great  undeveloped  resources.  Men 
of  ability  and  foresight  saw  the  possibilities  of  the  future, 
and  took  advantage  of  the  opportunity  and  have  built  up  great 
prosperity.  What  they  created  should  not  be  destroyed,  but 
fostered  and  regulated  for  the  benefit  of  all.  They  were  gen- 
erally not  criminals  but  benefactors;  but  the  time  has  come 
when  these  matters  should  be  regulated  to  prevent  excessive 
concentration  of  capital  in  a  few  hands. 

T.  Clifton  Jenkins,  Wholesale  Grocer,  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Political  agitation  and  social  unrest;  private  and  public 
extravagance;  too  many  non-producers  in  towns  and  cities,  and 
too  few  producers  on  the  farms;  unscientific  farming;  great 
increase  in  the  cost  of  labor  due  to  restriction  of  hours  and  of 
the  conditions  of  labor;  increasing  taxation  and  unwise  and 
radical  legislation  against  corporations — these  all  enter  into  the 
conditions  which  make  for  business  unrest.  I  favor  a  Federal 
license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Blish,  Mize  &  Silliman  Hardware  Company,  Atchison,  Kan. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  plain,  so 
that  business  men  may  easily  know  what  is  right  and  wrong 
under  it,  and  keep  within  the  law,  as  most  men  are  disposed 
to  do.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  opera- 
tion of  the*  Sherman  Act.  They  attempt  to  control  prices  and 
stifle  competition  in  the  labor  market.  In  our  territory  short 
crops  and  bad  management  are  the  causes  of  any  business  dis- 
turbance that  exists. 

Sims  Bray,  Sales  Manager,  Anderson  Hardware  Company, 
Atlanta,  Ga. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  enforced.  The  law  should  be 
enforced  as  long  as  it  is  a  law.  If  enforcement  hurts — as  it 
does — repeal  the  law  or  modify  it  in  accord  with  the  needs 
of  business  and  of  the  public.  The  commerce  court  should  be 
abolished.  It  does  no  good  to  railroads  that  they  cannot  get 
in  the  other  courts.  This  court  tends-  to  reduce  and  curtail 
the  authority  and  efficiency  of  the  Commerce  Commission. 

A.  Milne  &  Co.,  Iron  and  Steel  Merchants,  New  York  City. 

We  have  too  much  uncertainty  as  to  government  prosecu- 
tions; too  many  lawyers;  too  many  laws;  too  many  politicians; 
too  much  politics ;  not  enough  "  Mind  your  own  business " ; 
too  many  theorists  telling  others  what  they  should  do,  when 
they  themselves  do  not  understand  the  subject,  like  old  maids 
telling  successful  mothers  how  to  bring  up  their  children;  too 
many  attempts  to  make  our  government  a  paternal  one. 


317 

Hazen   &    Lotspeich    Co.,    Wholesale    Grocers,    Knoxville, 
Tenn. 

Selfishness  on  the  part  of  the  rich,  and  failure  on  the  part 
of  our  government  to  have  the  law  executed  promptly,  are  the 
causes  of  business  disturbance.  Let  every  Senator  get  busy 
in  trying  to  carry  out  faithfully  the  teaching  of  the  "  Golden 
Kule."  We  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods,  provided  our  government  is  strong  enough  to  regu- 
late the  trusts  and  large  corporations.  Make  the  Sherman  Law 
clear  and  then  have  it  enforced  promptly  and  impartially.  We 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Hugo  Reisinger,  Import  and  Export,  New  York  City. 

The  uncertain  political  conditions  of  the  country,  the 
Payne-Aldrich  tariff  and  the  suits  brought  against  the  trusts 
under  the  Sherman  Law  are  disturbing  causes  in  business.  I* 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  amended,  taking  the  German  law  for  corporations  as  a  basis. 
Competition  and  price  agreements  must  be  permissible.  Every 
trust  should  make  public  statement  of  its  affairs  at  least  twice 
a  year,  and  watered  stocks-  should  be  cut  out  of  its  stock.  Wa- 
tering stock  should  never  be  permitted. 

Roehm  &  Davison,  Wholesale  Merchants,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Pernicious  activity  of  the  national  government  in  trying  to 
follow  too  closely  a  law,  the  exact  meaning  of  which  no  two 
lawyers  agree  on,  is  interfering  with  business  security.  Give 
us  something  that  will  assure  business  stability.  We  want  less 
politics.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  permit  trade 
agreements  under  government  supervision.  We  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

John  S.  Brittain,  Wholesale  Dry  Goods,  St.  Joseph,  Mo. 

Less  politics  and  fewer  changes  in  our  tariff  system  are 
very  desirable.  We  ought  to  have  a  permanent  tariff  commis- 
sion that  would  remove  the  tariff  from  politics.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license,  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  if  it  seems  necessary.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  so  that  it  can  be  understood  without  in- 
structions from  a  judicial  body. 

L.  R.  Atwood,  President,  Peaslee-Gaulbert  Company,  Louis- 
ville, Ky. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  more 
reasonable,  practicable  and  clear,  and  to  make  it  apply  to  labor, 
professional  men  and  farmers,  as  well  as  to  merchants  and  man- 
ufacturers. Political  agitation  is  the  disturbing  element  in 
business  affairs. 


318 

W.  K.  Morison,  President,  W.   K.  Morison  &  Company, 
Hardware  Merchants,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Either  national  incorporation  or  Federal  license  would  be 
effective,  in  my  judgment,  for  dealing  with  corporations  engaged 
in  interstate  commerce.  I  believe  in  holding  companies,  under 
suitable  Federal  control.  Special  statutes  should  deal  with 
unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization  and  publicity  should  be  applied 
to  commercial  corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

Silberstein  &  Bondy  Company,  Merchants,  Duluth,  Minn. 

We  do  not  favor  dissolution  of  large  industrial  corporations 
as  a  solution  of  the  trust  problem,  or  as  tending  to  restore  com- 
petitive conditions.  The  time  is  past  for  bringing  that  about. 
Business  methods  must  grow  or  retrograde.  The  only  solution 
seems  to  be  regulation.  We  favor  Federal  incorporation  and 
control  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce,  and  a 
business  commission  to  regulate  prices  and  conditions  under 
which  such  corporations  can  do  business. 

C.  F.  Shoemaker,  Wholesale  Druggist,  Philadelphia^  Pa. 

T  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a 
Federal  license  law,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with 
powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers.  Business 
disturbance  is  due  to  uncertainty  on  the  part  of  manufacturers 
and  merchants  as  to  when  and  where  government  lightning 
might  strike  them. 

C.  R.  Johnson,  Union  Lumber  Company,  San  Francisco, 
Cal. 

We  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  there  should 
be  no  exception  as  to  any  class  under  the  law.  Disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions,  in  our  judgment,  are  due  to  the  attempt  of  the 
government,  spurred  on  by  politicians  and  theorists,  to  assume 
functions  which  do  not  belong  to  it  and  for  which  its  officials 
are  unfitted. 

Chicago  Stove  and  Range  Company,  Chicago,  111. 

Make  the  Sherman  Law  brief  and  clear.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  farmers 
should  be  permitted  to  combine  to  secure  fair  prices  for  their 
products.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Present  disturbed 
business  conditions  are  caused  by  politics. 


319 

Walter  C.  Humstone,  Retired  Merchant,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

At  present  almost  all  business  is  being  done  under  condi- 
tions which  in  the  past  were  thought  to  be  legal  and  proper. 
Changes  in  the  past  few  years,  brought  about  by  public  opinion, 
make  the  future  conduct  of  business  uncertain  until  proper 
conditions  are  clearly  defined  and  understood.  I  do  not  favor 
the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Either  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  or  Federal  license  seems  necessary.  I  am  in  some 
doubt  as  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  but  it  may  be  de- 
sirable. 

T.  W.  Marse,  Country  Merchant,  Taylor,  Texas. 

Causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions?  Calling  people 
or  trusts  down  to  rules  of  reason  and  justice  in  business  prog- 
ress. We  are  making  very  good  progress  in  this  country  in  all 
lines  of  industry.  Such  disturbance  as  exists  is  due  to  com- 
pelling large  combinations  to  recognize  that  the  public  have 
rights  that  must  be  respected.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  and  Federal  license,  and  see  no  objection  to  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

Charles   W.    Ott,    Secretary,   Wm.    Steinmeyer   Company, 
Wholesale  and  Retail  Grocers,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable 
and  ought  to  be  repealed.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  combinations  of  farmers 
should  be  lawful.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Too  much  politics  and  too  little 
regard  for  the  general  welfare  by  men  in  public  office  are 
responsible  for  disturbance  in  business. 

Charles  B.  Gookin,  Retired  Merchant,  Cotton  and  Woolen 
Dress  Goods  and  other  Textile  Mills,  Boston,  Mass. 

Uncertainty  as  to  what  is  right  and  what  is  wrong  under 
the  Sherman  Law,  which  should  be  amended  to  make  it  clearer 
and  to  state  what  corporations  can  do,  is  the  cause  of  business 
disturbance.  I  believe  we  should  have  constructive  legislation 
at  once  in  order  that  capital  may  be  employed  and  thereby  give 
employment  to  our  wage-earners  and  also  return  interest  on 
money  which  is  now  idle. 

William  A.   Heizman,  Pennsylvania  Hardware  Company, 
Reading,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  along  the  line  of  the 
suggestions  of  Mr.  Samuel  Untermyer,  especially  in  that  it 
should  be  made  possible  for  competitors  to  combine  in  at  least 
some  form  which  will  prevent  ruinous  competition.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law.  Business  is  being  disturbed  by 
too  much  political  agitation. 


320 

Robert   L.   Chamberlain,   Treasurer  of  the   Knickerbocker 
Chocolate  Company,  New  York. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  an  excessive  number  of 
demagogues  in  public  life,  the  result  of  manhood  suffrage.  If 
women  are  given  the  right  to  vote,  conditions  will  become  twice 
as  bad.  A  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in  business  would 
be  feasible  if  unfair  competition  is  punished  by  jail  sentence. 
Trade  unions  should  most  decidedly  not  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  as  their  object  is  to  destroy 
competition  and,  as  a  result,  to  destroy  discipline  and  efficiency. 
Their  claim  that  they  are  not  organizations  for  profit  is  not  true. 

Clyde  Mitchell  Carr,  President  Joseph  T.  Ryerson  &  Son, 
Chicago,  111. 

I  do  not  think  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  meth- 
ods; but  I  believe  that  modern  methods,  unless  strongly  regu- 
lated, will  prove  of  greater  danger  than  the  old  competitive 
methods.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended,  saying  just 
what  a  corporation  may  or  may  not  do,  making  the  penalty 
severe  and  applied  to  individuals  in  some  other  way  than  by 
fines.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  if  corporations  are  to  be  permitted  to  con- 
trol the  major  portion  of  any  commodity. 

D.  Wile,  of  Kaufman,  Straus  &  Co.,  Dry  Goods,  Lexington, 
Ky. 

I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  but  the  limita- 
tions of  corporations  should  be  more  clearly  defined,  so  that  all 
business  men  may  know  exactly  where  they  stand.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of 
the  Sherman  Act  and  should  be  regulated  by  new  legislation. 
The  causes  of  disturbance  in  business  are  extravagant  living 
and  the  higher  cost  of  almost  every  commodity. 

William  E.  Peck,  William  E.  Peck  &   Co.,   Export  Mer- 
chants, New  York. 

The  high  cost  of  union  labor  and  its  growing  inefficiency 
are  the  causes  of  business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  is 
now  clear  and  workable.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

William  Willis  Merrill,  Merchant,  Produce  Exchange,  New 
York. 

The  Sherman  Law,  and  the  attempt  to  enforce  that  unwise 
measure,  is  disturbing  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  by 
all  means  be  repealed. 


.JIM 

Plumb  &  Nelson  Company,  Wholesale  Grocers,  Manitowoc, 
Wis. 

We  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate 
business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  strengthened.  Holding 
companies  should  be  prevented.  The  government  should  regu- 
late capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commer- 
cial corporations  through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for  that 
purpose.  We  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if  prices 
can  be  controlled  absolutely.  We  do  not  deny  the  existence  of 
advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale, 
but  we  prefer  restraint  of  combinations  anyway. 

Collins,  Darrah  &  Co.,  Lumbermen  and  Builders  of  Coal 
Barges,  Nebraska,  Forest  County,  Pa. 

Some  of  the  large  corporations  affected  by  the  Sherman  Law 
want  to  make  hard  times  to  get  the  law  repealed,  and  that  is 
what  is  causing  business  trouble.  We  consider  the  Sherman 
Law  clear  and  workable.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission,  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  per- 
mitted. We  favor  a  national  incorporation  Jaw  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

Shem  Spigelmyer,  Merchant,  Antes  Fort,  Pa. 

The  voters,  both  Democratic  and  Republican,  are  mostly  on 
the  progressive  order  in  these  parts,  and  nothing  else  will  do. 
Antiquated  ideas  and  old  fossil  teachings  will  not  attract  any 
support  here.  The  Supreme  Court  is  regarded  here  as  either 
not  knowing  the  law,  or  not  caring  to  enforce  it  as  it  ought 
to  be  enforced.  The  manipulation  of  commodities,  watering 
stock,  and  misunderstanding  of  the  Sherman  Act,  have  largely 
caused  unsettled  conditions  throughout  the  country. 

E.  J.  Fairfield,  Lindsay  Brothers,  Agricultural  Implements, 
Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Calling  a  halt  on  our  fast  gait  will  do  us  no  harm  except 
temporary  inconvenience.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amend- 
ed only  to  the  extent  of  clearing  the  atmosphere  so  that  the 
combinations  of  capital  and  the  general  public  will  both  know 
where  they  are  at.  I  am  decidedly  opposed  to  any  change  in 
the  law  permitting  the  cut-throat  methods  with  which  combina- 
tions started  out  and  for  which  they  were  primarily  organized. 

The  Dewey  Brothers  Company,  Blanchester,  Ohio. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  about  as  clear  and  workable  as  can 
be  expected,  as  long  as  lawyers  are  law-makers.  It  is  doubt- 
less susceptible  to  improvement.  The  alleged  disturbance  in 
business  conditions  is  doubtless  due,,  in  a  large  degree,  to  the 
fact  that  former  victims  of  Wall  Street  now  have  cold  feet. 


322 

George  H.  Raymond,  President,  Hans  Rees'  Sons,  Tanners 

and  Leather  Merchants,  New  York. 

• 

We  ought  to  return  perhaps  not  to  old  competitive  methods, 
but  to  competition  without  favoritism  in  freight  rates.  I  be- 
lieve the  Sherman  Law  is  being  made  clear.  At  the  same  time 
I  am  in  favor  of  a  Federal  license  law  and  opposed  to  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  I  believe  that  business  conditions  are 
improving. 

J.  H.  Marr,  Lumber  and  Grain,  Davenport,  Neb. 

What  we  need  is  some  more  of  Teddy  Koosevelt  or  Sen- 
ator La  Follette.  The  people  have  become  tired  of  the  union 
of  great  interests  to  destroy  all  competition,  and  at  the  same 
time,  they  do  not  want  such  interference  with  business  as  will 
tend  to  deprive  them  of  employment  and  to  increase  the  cost  of 
products  to  the  consumer.  Teddy  Roosevelt  remedy  is  what  we 
want. 

M.  Philipsborn,  Merchant,  Chicago,  111. 

Machinations  of  politicians  willing  to  sacrifice  public  wel- 
fare to  individual  ambition,  and  in  addition  to  that  the  ab- 
sence of  a  thoroughly  practical  banking  system  tend  to  create 
lack  of  confidence  among  business  men.  I  favor  a  national  in- 
corporation law  and  also  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  and 
think  the  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed. 

John  Pritzlaff  Hardware  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Persecution  of  the  trusts  under  cover  of  the  Sherman  Law, 
agitation  of  the  tariff  issue,  muckraking  demagogy  under  the 
guise  of  reform — these  in  brief  are  responsible  for  business  dis- 
turbance. A  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  would  doubtless  help  to  establish  a  better  situation. 
I  am  in  favor  of  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law. 

James  Mandlebaum,  Fones  Brothers  Hardware  Company, 
Little  Rock,  Ark. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended,  simplifying  it  so 
as  to  make  it  possible  to  punish  severely  those  who  are  guilty 
of  violating  it,  and  also  to  make  it  so  clear  that  it  will  not  be 
necessary  for  business  men  to  run  to  a  lawyer's  office  to  learn 
what  they  can  or  cannot  do. 

Richard  G.  Wagner,  President  of  the  Wisconsin  Sugar  Com- 
pany, Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Aggressive  legislation  adverse  to  the  interests  of  business 
and  tariff  agitation  both  tend  to  make  uncertain  the  minds  of 
business  men  and  to  unsettle  business  conditions.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  make  big  business  pos- 
sible and  corporations  with  large  interests  also  possible. 


S.  Hamiil  Company,  Wholesale  Grocers,  Keokuk,  Iowa. 

Too  much  political  agitation  and  a  general  fear  that  some- 
thing is  going  to  happen  and  too  much  centralization  of  big 
interests  are,  in  our  judgment,  the  causes  of  business  uncer- 
tainty. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  all  busi- 
ness, large  or  small,  if  conducted  honestly,  should  be  protected. 
English  laws  protect  large  and  small  interests  and  might  be 
studied  with  good  results  by  our  lawmakers.  We  favor  national 
incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

G.  H.  Wells,  Gould,  Wells  &  Blackburn  Company,  Whole- 
sale Grocers,  Madison,  Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable. 
I  do  not  consider  it  entirely  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods:  but  competition  is  not  obsolete  yet.  The  Sherman 
I  jaw  should  be  amended  to  make  it  more  specific.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  together  with  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission  for  interstate  business. 

Mears-Slayton      Lumber      Company,      Lumber      Dealers, 
Chicago,  111. 

A  lack  of  statesmanship  and  a  considerable  surplus  of  poli- 
ticians are  responsible  for  a  good  deal  of  disturbance  in  busi- 
ness. We  should  have  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an 
Intel-state  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
made  constructive,  not  destructive,  and  farmers  should  be  al- 
lowed to  combine  if  they  want  to. 

A.  G.  Webb,  Lumberman,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

LTncertainty  as  to  the  powers  of  corporations  and  the  hostile 
attitude  of  the  executive  and  legislative  authorities  of  the  na- 
tion and  various  States  toward  combinations  of  capital  are  chief 
among  the  causes  of  unrest.  We  ought  to  have  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as 
to  make  it  clear. 

A.  H.  Lindeke,  Wholesale  Drygoods,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable, 
but  I  am  not  prepared  to  suggest  as  to  its  amendment.  Rail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 
I  do  not  believe  in  government  control  of  private  business. 

Warren    M.    Salisbury    (W.    H.    Salisbury    &    Co.,    Inc.), 
Chicago,  111. 

We  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  that  railroads 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to 
approval  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 


324 

Benoni  Sherman  Green,  Wholesale  Saddlery,  Bloomington, 
111. 

In  a  general  way  there  are  no  disturbed  business  conditions. 
Some  hesitation  is  being  caused  in  business  enterprise  by  the 
restrictions  imposed  through  doubtful  interpretation  of  the 
Sherman  Law.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  so  plain  and 
understandable  that  any  person  of  common  intelligence  could 
comprehend  it.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  cuter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  la\v. 
but  not  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Willis    Davis,    Secretary,    Southwestern    Drug    Company, 
Wichita,  Kan. 

J  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  Holding  companies  should  be  restrained  to  the 
extent  that  they  shall  not  become  monopolies.  I  prefer  the  Sher- 
man Anti-Trust  Act  for  dealing  with  unfair  competition  and 
restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Wm.  S.  French,  Merchant,  Evansville,  Ind. 

The  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is  clear  and  work- 
able. It  should  be  amended  to  strengthen  its  control  over  inter- 
state corporations  of  all  kinds.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  Federal  license 
for  interstate  corporations  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

Wm.   Q.  Wales,  President  Brown-Wales   Company,   Mer- 
chants, Boston,  Mass. 

I  think  a  paid  commission  to  study  the  business  situation 
in  this  country  and  suggest  either  new  laws  or  amendments  to 
the  Sherman  Act  is  the  most  feasible  solution  to  the  present 
uncertainty  in  business. 

O.  V.  Tracy  &  Co.,  Wholesale  Grocers,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

I  prefer  a  national  incorporation  law  for  corporations  doing- 
ail  interstate  business,  and  State  incorporation  where  the  busi- 
ness is  confined  to  one  Stale.  Railroads  should  be.  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission  with  national  incorporation. 

Max  Morehouse,  Merchant,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

Large  interests  are  afraid  of  unsettled  and  uncertain  condi- 
tions. There  is  nothing  much  the  matter  with-  the  business  of 
retailers.  It  is  unfortunate  but  true  that  the  trusts  must  be 
controlled  and  that  present  conditions  can  be  bettered  only  by 
finding  a  solid  and  lasting  remedy  for  an}'  existing  evil.  . 


325 

William  J.  Farrell,  Corks,  New  York  City. 

The  greedy,  unscrupulous  rich  must  be  restrained  in  some 
way.  The  Sherman  Law  is  better  than  nothing.  It  is  not 
entirely  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  old  competitive  meth- 
ods. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license 
law,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  causes  of  dis- 
turbed business  conditions  are  many,  from  the  suspicions  of  the 
general  public  regarding  the  rich  grabbers  to  the  machinations 
of  the  grabbers  themselves. 

Edward  A.  Morrison,  Retired  Dry  Goods  Merchant,  New 
York  City  and  Larchmont,  N.  Y. 

The  cause  of  disturbed  business  conditions  is  largely  the 
element  of  fear  that  prevails  in  the  minds  of  business  men  in 
regard  to  the  action  and  effect  of  the  Sherman  Law;  also  in  a 
lark  of  confidence  in  the  courts  and  the  political  leaders  of 
the  nation.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law. 

M.  J.  Brandenstein  &  Co.,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  or  possibly  amended, 
by  permitting  "big  business "  to  be  economically  so  worked 
that  the  ultimate  consumer  will  purchase  at  lowest  possible 
price,  and  at  the  same  time  such  "  business  "  can  compete  with 
the  world's  markets.  Constant  agitation  of  the  tariff  and  un- 
certainty as  to  the  legal  status  of  corporations  are  the  causes 
of  disturbance. 

Frank  B.  Downs,  Treasurer,  Philadelphia  Distributing  Com- 
pany, Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Interference  originated  in  the  "  big  stick  "  has  caused  pres- 
ent disturbed  conditions  in  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  repealed.  It  is  obsolete  as  applying  to  existing  conditions. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

Roger  Williams,  Retired,  Providence,  R.  I. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  permit  com- 
binations under  government  regulation  and  supervision.  It  is 
only  partially  clear  and  workable.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  very 
broad  powers. 

F.    E.   Woodward    (Woodward   &   Son),    Langdon,   Minn. 
(Retired  Farmer,  Small  Country  Store,  etc.) 

Living  too  fast  is  what  is  causing  business  disturbance.  Too 
much  time  and  attention  and  money  are  given  to  sporting  and 
not  enough  attention  given  to  business,  by  older  people,  middle 
aged  people,  and  young  people.  They  chase  around  too  much 
and  don't  attend  to  work. 


326 

Haw  and  Simmons   Company,  Wholesale   Hardware,   Ot> 
tumwa,  Iowa. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business,  and  am  opposed  to  holding  companies.  The  gov- 
ernment should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be 
applied  to  interstate  corporations.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  and  federal  license.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
l>e  amended  to  make  it  clearer  and  more  stringent. 

Schnull  &  Co.,  Wholesale  Grocers,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

Excessively  high  tariff,  disregard  of  law  by  the  trusts,  delay 
in  trials  and  decisions  by  the  courts,  and  a  weak  and  ridiculous 
banking  and  currency  system  have  all  joined  in  unsettling  the 
stability  of  business  conditions.  We  consider  it  feasible  to 
return  to  old  competitive  methods,  with  modifications.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  made  more  explicit,  and  railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 

John  S.  Miller  (Westmoreland  Grocery  Company),  Union- 
town,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  clear  and 
workable.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  be  exceptcd  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act  and  combinations  of  farmers 
should  be  lawful.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.  O.  Barrett,  President,  Barrett  Hardware  Company,  Joliet, 
111. 

Labor  unions  and  the  agitation  against  corporations  are 
leading  causes  of  present  disturbed  conditions.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  repealed  as  to  industrial  corporations,  but  not 
as  to  railroads.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  I  favor  national  incorporation  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

John  W.  Blodgett,  Lumberman,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Tariff  uncertainty — first  and  foremost — and  adverse  legisla- 
tion are  the  causes  of  business  disturbance.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law  with  complete  publicity.  Federal  license  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  is  not 
clear  and  workable  and  should  be  repealed. 

Boggs  &  Buhl,  General  Merchandise,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  should  be  established,  with  powers  not 
unlike  those  now  used  in  regulating  common  carriers  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 


W.   V.   Snyder   Company,   Drygoods   Merchants,   Newark, 
N.  J. 

Too  much  politics!  More  paternalism!  Less  thought  of 
self !  Too  many  politicians ;  too  few  statesmen,  are  troubling 
the  business  world.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  but 
if  it  is  to  be  amended,  then  it  should  be  considered  that  mere 
size  should  not  count  against  a  company,  provided  the  company 
is  honestly  conducted.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

George  B.  Logan,  Wholesale  Hardware  Merchant,  Pitts- 
burg,  Pa. 

The  article  on  "  Trusts "  by  Col.  Theodore  Eoosevelt  in 
"  The  Outlook "  of  November  18,  1911,  expresses  clearly  my 
ideas  of  the  best  method  of  remedying  present  unsettled  condi- 
tions. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  and  Federal 
incorporation.  Federal  incorporation  should  relieve  the  cor- 
poration of  State  control  or  expense  other  than  taxation  of  its 
property. 

James  H.  Stebbins,  Retired  from  Business,  New  York. 

A  prominent  cause  of  business  disturbance  is  the  meddle- 
someness of  the  Federal  government  in  the  business  affairs  of 
the  people.  I  am  opposed  to  a  national  incorporation  law,  and 
I  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  if  a  workable  law  takes  its 
place.  If  the  Sherman  Law  is  to  be  amended,  it  should  be  made 
clearer  to  the  multitude  of  business  men. 

Edward  Hamlin,    Metropolitan    Coal    Company,    Boston, 
Mass. 

Two  political  parties  playing  for  position  in  the  game  of 

politics  are  disturbing  business.     The  Sherman  Law  should  be 

either  amended  or  repealed.     The  intent  of  the  law  should  be 
absolutely  clear.    I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.  C.  Ulrick,  Wholesale  Grocer,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

The  assaults  by  the  press  and  by  agitators  on  business  have 
had  much  to  do  with  present  disturbed  conditions.  I  favor 
a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  the'  enactment  of  a  national 
incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

Frank  Geele  Hardware  Company,  Sheboygan,  Wisconsin. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license 
law.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed,  as  it  is  neither 
clear  nor  workable.  Too  much  legislation  is  making  trouble  for 
the  country. 


Henry  Koch,  Commercial  Agent,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment 
of  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law,  and  the 
creation  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman 
Act  and  other  laws,  vague  and  difficult  of  clear  construction, 
and  without  rule  of  reason,  have  caused  whatever  disturbance 
exists  in  business. 

E.  D.  Whiteside,  Lumberman,  Columbus,  Kan. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  unwarranted  tim- 
idity resulting  from  the  Sherman  Law  agitation  and  Canadian 
Reciprocity  agitation.  Just  waiting  to  find  "  where  we  are  at." 
By  the  way,  locally  we  have  had  no  disturbance.  We  have  gone 
steadily  forward — but  then  this  is  the  best  corner  of  the  world, 
anyway. 

F.  T.  Hindman,  Manager,  Shaw  Lumber  Company,  Retail 

Lumber  and  Coal,  Boise,  Idaho. 

The  present  panic  or  depression  is  peculiar,  in  that  while 
work  is  scarce,  prices  in  general  have  not  fallen,  and  in  many 
instances  have  risen.  In  my  mind  business  combinations  will 
be  much  more  amenable  to  both  law  and  reason  if  their  pro- 
tective tariff  bulwark  is  first  removed. 

Ragon  Brothers,  Wholesale  Grocers,  Evansville,  Ind. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  and  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as 
having  been  made  clear  and  workable.  Too  much  political  agi- 
tation regarding  so-called  trusts  is  chiefly  responsible-  for  any 
existing  uncertainty. 

W.    T.    Scott,    President,    The    Scott    Lumber    Company, 
Bridgeport,  Ohio. 

There  are  not  enough  farm  producers,  and  too  many  non- 
producers  in  the  cities.  There  is  too  much  political  agitation, 
and  court  proceedings  are  delayed  too  long. 

A.  M.  Sheldon,  Manager  and  Treasurer,  Imperial  Elevator 
Company,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

There  is  too  much  political  agitation  respecting  commercial 
interests,  and  this  is  made  worse  as  to  its  effects  by  hesitancy 
on  the  part  of  capital  to  undertake  new  business,  owing  to  an 
unstable  currency  and  banking  system. 

V.  A.  Peterson,  Grain  Buyer,  Shickley,  Neb. 

I  don't  see  that  any  trust  is  any  good  to  the  public.  I 
consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  of 
business,  and  I  consider  the  Sherman  Law  clear  and  workable. 


Arthur  C.  Smith,  Wholesale  Dry  Goods  Merchant,  Omaha, 
Neb. 

Over-speculation,  ''trust  busting/'  tariff  agitation  and  in- 
surgent heresies  generally  are  disturbing  business  conditions. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  we  should  have  a 
national  incorporation  law.  Federal  license,  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

James   M.  Young,  President,  Fort  Pitt  Supply  Company, 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

Watering  of  stock  and  abusive  power  by  corporations  have 
led  to  loss  of  confidence  in  some  of  the  great  business  enter- 
prises. For  the  sins  of  the  minority  the  majority  are  being 
made  to  suffer.  The  Sherman  Law  should  'be  repealed.  L 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

J.  Ullman  &  Co.,  Live  Stock,  etc.,  Appleton,  Wis. 

Too  much  agitation  in  business  for  political  grandstand 
play;  too  much  politics  in  business  and  too  little  business  in 
politics,  are  responsible  for  existing  uncertainty.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  made  more  clear  in  order  that  a  business 
man  can  understand  its  meaning  and  effect. 

H.  F.  C.  Dovenmuehle  &  Son,  Wholesale  Boots  &  Shoes, 
Chicago,  111. 

Too  much  newspaper  talk  and  wrong  impressions  or  false 
statements  have  brought  about  disturbance  in  business.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  clear,  and  to  cover 
points  that  are  not  now  covered. 

Empkie     Shugart     Hill    Company,    Wholesale    Hardware, 
Council  Bluffs,  Iowa. 

Amend  the  Sherman  Law  so  as  to  cover  the  points  not 
covered  and  to  make  clear  just  what  is  intended  by  the  law. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law, 
and  am  opposed  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.  Q.  Carter  &  Co.,  Retail  Merchants,  De  Land,  111. 

Over  supply  of  water  in  corporation  stocks  is  making  a  good 
deal  of  trouble.  The  Sherman  Law  should  not  be  repealed 
but  should  have  necessary  amendments. 

A.  G.  Lamperty,  Sales  Manager,  Wolf  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  so  phrased  as  to  make  its 
meaning  clear  and  concise,  instead  of  being  va<rno  and  subject 
to  many  constructions. 


330 

A.  J.  Elias,  G.  Elias  &  Bro.,  Lumber  Dealers,  Buffalo,  N.Y. 

The  general  enforcement  of  laws  long  obsolete  and  the  en- 
actment of  other  needed  legislation,  curbing  the  reckless  and 
thus  preventing  more  serious  consequences  later,  are  causing 
business  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended 
to  define  just  what  it  does  mean  so  clearly  that  every  one  can 
understand.  I  regard  it  as  feasible  to  return  to  old  competi- 
tive methods. 

Francis  H.  Southwick,  Retired  Merchant  and  Corporation 
Officer,  31  Pierrepont  street,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

A  very  bad  monetary  system;  too  much  legislation  and 
talking  about  future  legislation,  largely  for  political  effect,  are, 
in  my  judgment,  the  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions. 
We  ought  to  elect  a  president  for  a  seven-  or  eight-year  term 
and  have  him  ineligible  for  a  second  term.  The  Sherman  Law 
ought  to  be  repealed.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law. 

A.  F.  Clough  &  Co.,  Retail  Lumber  Dealers,  Canova,  S.  D. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  and  we  should  have 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Doubt  as  to  what  is  really 
lawful  is  the  trouble  with  business.  In  regard  to  labor  unions 
and  farmers'  organizations,  it  would  seem  equitable  to  have 
them  on  the  same  footing  as  other  classes  of  organizations  of 
the  same  nature. 

G.  C.  Sterl  &  Co.  Merchants,  Abilene,  Kansas. 

President  Taft's  veto  on  tariff  reductions  caused  present 
disturbed  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made 
stronger  and  more  binding.  We  need  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Lucius  M.  Stanton,  Stanton  Bros.,  Neckwear,  New  York. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission. 

Jay  Smith,  Marshall- Wells  Hardware  Company,  Portland, 
Ore. 

Too  much  agitation  against  corporations  has  brought  about 
the  present  business  uncertainty.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sher- 
man Law,  and  the  enactment  of  a  national  incorporation  law, 
and  also  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

James  Campbell,  Hardware  Merchant,  Seattle,  Wash. 

I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  which  is  shown 
to  be  clear  and  workable.  I  am  in  favor  of  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 


331 

Fred  L.  Carter,  Carter,  Carter  &  Meigs,  Wholesale  Drug- 
gists, Boston,  Mass. 

The  court  decisions  in  regard  to  the  Sherman  Law  and  the 
uncertainty  of  merchants  as  to  what  they  can  do  and  cannot 
do  and  the  uncertainty  of  business  men,  particularly  the  mill 
and  factory  interests,  in  regard  to  the  tariff,  all  contribute  to 
business  unrest.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that 
business  men  will  know  what  they  can  do.  We  favor  a  Federal 
license  law. 

Newman   Walbridge,   Walbridge   &    Co.,    Hardware   Mer- 
chants, Buffalo,  N.  Y. 

Fear  of  the  consequences  of  the  enforcement  of  the  Sher- 
man Law  is  the  chief  cause  of  business  disturbance.  I  favor  a 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment  of  a  national 
incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

A.  C.  Kennett,  Lumber,  Conway,  N.  H. 

The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  made  so  clear  that  no  court 
will  have  to  add  or  subtract  one  word.  Wall  Street  and  the 
Stock  Exchange  are  the  causes  of  existing  business  disturbance. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

S.  L.  Allen  &  Co.,  Agricultural  Implements,  Philadelphia, 
Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable,  and  we  are  in  doubt 
as  to  any  need  of  amending  it.  The  railroads  should  be  allowed 
io  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission. 

William  B.  Deming,  Export  Merchant,  New  York. 

A  general  feeling  of  distrust  and  uncertainty  is  caused  by 
the  attacks  of  interested  politicians  on  railwa}^  and  on  large 
and  well-established  business  interests.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  repealed. 

F.  Mayer  Boot  and  Shoe  Company,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  political  agitation.  We  re- 
gard the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable,  and  not  in  need 
of  amendment. 

H.  P.  Hale,  Manager,  John  Morrell  &  Co.,  Boston,  Mass. 

I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 


George  L.  Fordyce,  The  Fordyce-Osborne  Company,  Dry 
Goods  and  Millinery,  Youngstown,  Ohio. 

I  favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law  to  conform  to  present- 
day  business  conditions.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 
with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers.  In  my 
judgment,  the  cause  of  disturbed  business  conditions  is  politics. 

Byron  Parsons,  President,  Parsons  &  Scoville  Co.,  Whole- 
sale Grocers,  Evansville,  Ind. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  its  pro- 
visions clear.  I  favor  national  incorporation,,  but  I  have  grave 
doubts  if  the  government  should  undertake  to  conserve  the 
interests  of  private  corporations  doing  interstate  business 
through  a  commission.  Limit  capitalization,  surplus,  ability 
to 'borrow,  and  specifically  define  business. 

R.  A.  Long,  President,  The  Long-Bell  Lumber  Company, 
Kansas  City,  Mo. 

Under  all  the  circumstances  I  think  it  desirable  thai    the 
Sherman  Law  should  stand  as  it  now  exists.     Disturbed  bu-> 
ness  conditions,  in  my  judgment,  are  chiefly  due  to  political 
agitation  or  legislation  regarding  the  so-called  trusts  and  large 
combinations. 

R.  O.  Bolman,  Wholesale  Grocer,  Coffeyville,  Kan. 

Extravagance  of  the  average  consumer;  indifference  of  the 
average  wage-earner  to  financial  obligations,  thus  making  him 
an  itinerant  beat;  unwillingness  of  the  people  to  live  sensible 
within  their  means — all  these  tend  to  cause  disturbed  business 
conditions.  The  poor  as  well  as  the  well-to-do  brag  of  extrav- 
agance and  deprecate  economy. 

H.  L.  McKibben,  Grain  and  Lumber,  Arlington,  Neb. 

The  Sherman  Law  is,  in  my  judgment,  clear  and  workable: 
and  it  is  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in  busi- 
ness. Present  disturbed  conditions  are  caused  by  laws  defying 
business  interests  on  account  of  the  action  taken  against  them 
by  the  government. 

F.  N.  Joslin  &  Co.,  Merchants,  Maiden,  Mass. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  I  am  also  opposed  to  holding  companies.  The 
government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be 
passed  providing  for  publicity  for  commercial  corporations.  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


George  A.  Gray   (George  A.  Gray  Company,  Department 
Store),  Duluth,  Minn. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. The  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  would 
make  too  long  a  story.  Eail  roads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  combinations  of  farmer- 
should  be  permitted.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 

J.  T.  Doster,  Doster-Northington  Drug  Company,  Whole- 
sale Druggists,  Birmingham,  Ala. 

The  simple  fact  that  nobody  knows  or  lias  any  good  reasons 
in  Minnise  what  the  law  permits  them  to  do  in  the  way  of  busi- 
ness,  or  what  it  will  be  permitting  them  to  do  to-morrow,  is 
ciiusing  present  disturbance.  The  Sherman  Law  should  either 
be  repealed  or  amended.  AVe  should  have  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law. 

G.  Motley,  Givernaud  Bros.,  Silks,  New  York  City. 

AVe  believe  in  individual  liberty,  in  just  as  lew  laws  and 
regulations  as  possible — no  paternalism  or  socialism,  be  it  from 
up  or  from  down.  There  may  be  abuses — it  is  human  nature. 
No  laws  will  ever  prevent  abuses  of  one  sort  or  another,  and 
laws  often  create  abuses. 

The  Hooven  &  Allison  Company,  Xenia,  Ohio. 

The  only  amendment  we  have  to  suggest  to  the  Sherman 
Law  i<  to  eliminate  the  use  of  ''reasonable"  in  interpreting 
the  law.  We  regard  it  as  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods  in  business. 

E.  Chamberlin,  Mining,  New  York  City. 

Uncertainty  is  the  cause  of  present  business  disturbance.  The 
Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable  and  should  not  be  repealed. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates.  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law. 


Chapter    IV. 
LABOR. 


John  Mitchell,  former  President  of  United  Mine  Workers 
of  America,  Mount  Vernon,  N.  Y. 

The  Sherman  Law  lias  not  been  made  clear  and  workable, 
and  I  favor  its  repeal.  I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt 
to  return  to  what  are  commonly  known  as  old  competitive 
methods  in  business.  If  the  Sherman  Law  is  nut  repealed,  I 
favor  amending  it  so  as  to  exclude  from  its  operation  associa- 
tions having  no  capital  stock  and  not  organ i/ed  for  profit. 

Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  and  combinations 
of  farmers  should  be  exccpted  from  the  Sherman  Act. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers  not 
unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to 
uncertainty  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  Sherman  Law:  demand 
of  the  people  for  a  greater  measure  of  control  and  a  more  direct, 
voice  in  the  administration  of  legislative  and  administrative 
affairs. 

I  believe  that  Congress  should  create  a  commission  composed 
of  representatives  of  wage-earners,  employers,  legislators  and 
economists,  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  make  a  study  of  iliis 
entire  subject,  and  recommend  to  Congress  such  reforms  in  the 
legislative,  administrative  and  judicial  branches  of  our  govern- 
ment as  may  seem  necessary  because  of  the  changes  and  the 
development  in  our  industrial  and  commercial  life. 

J.  M.  Lynch,  President  International  Typographical  Union, 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 

I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable: 
nor  do  I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  what  are  commonly 
known  as  old  competitive  methods  in  business.  I  favor  either 
a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  or  amendments  that  will  make 
its  intention  (the  intention  of  Congress)  clear.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  a  regulation  of  the  combina- 
tions. Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission:  and  trade  unions  should  be 

334 


335 

excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  Combinations 
of  farmers  should  not  come  under  the  Sherman  Act.  If  they 
or  the  trade  unions  must  be  regulated  by  law,  then  it  should 
be  by  special  act.  I  doubt,  however,  the  necessity  for  such  a 
law. 

I  favor  a  statute  for  the  regulation  of  big  business  that  will 
be  clear  and  workable  and  prevent  extortion.  But  such  a 
statute  must  recognize  that  the  trusts,  so-called,  are  an  economic 
development  that  cannot  and  should  not  be  legislated  out  of 
business.  Combinations  are  inevitable  and  scientific.  But  they 
should  benefit  in  the  greatest  degree  all  of  the  people. 

W.  S.  Carter,  President,  Brotherhood  of  Locomotive  Fire- 
men and  Enginemen,  Peoria,  111. 

In  regard  to  trades  unions,  will  say  that  none  of  the  discus- 
sions or  arguments  offered  in  behalf  of  or  against  the  adoption  of 
the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  gives  any  indication  that  it  was  ever 
intended  that  trades  unions  should  be  regulated  by  the  Sherman 
Anti-Trust  Act  and,  therefore,  there  should  be  no  occasion  to 
"  except "  trades  unions  from  this  operation.  Had  the  question 
been,  "  Should  trades  unions  have  been  included  in  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Sherman  Act  by  the  American  judiciary?"  I  would 
unhesitatingly  have  said,  "  No" 

As  to  causes  of  present  disturbed  business  conditions  no 
man  can  answer  this  question  except  to  express  his  own 
personal  views.  It  seems  to  me  that  the  present  "  disturbed 
business  conditions "  are  largely  based  upon  a  doubt  as  to 
whether  the  "  common  people  "  will  much  longer  stand  for  the 
present  high  cost  of  living,  which  they  believe  is  of  artificial 
creation,  and  is  not  a  natural  economic  result  of  the  condition 
of  the  country. 

In  August  of  1909  my  business  called  me  to  Texas,  where 
I  was  astonished  to  observe  farmers  (or  fruit  growers)  shaking 
their  peach  trees  so  that  the  peaches  would  fall  off  and  be  con- 
sumed by  their  hogs.  These  peaches  were  finer  than  I  had  ever 
seen  before.  I  asked  many  why  it  was  that  these  peaches  were 
not  shipped  to  the  Northern  States,  where  the  housewives  were 
paying  $2.25  per  bushel  for  an  inferior  quality.  I  was  told  that 
the  farmers  could  not  afford  to  gather,  sort*  pack  and  deliver 
at  the  railroad  station  these  peaches  for  less  than  sixty  cents 
per  bushel,  and  that  they  were  not  offered  as  much  as  sixty 
cents  for  these  peaches.  Further  investigation  showed  that  a 
carload  of  peaches  shipped  to  the  City  of  Chicago  in  a  refrig- 
erator car  would  cost  about  thirty-five  cents  per  bushel.  That 
is,  if  the  farmer  got  sixty  cents  and  the  railroads  got  thirty- 
five  cents  for  delivering  a  carload  of  peaches  into  Chicago,  the 
cost.  f.  o.  b.  Chicago  would  have  been  ninety-five  cents  per 
bushel.  Yet,  at  the  same  time,  peaches  of  inferior  quality  could 
not  be  secured  by  the  citizens  of  Illinois  for  less  than  $2.25  per 
bushel.  I  imagine  if  it  now  becomes  evident  that  the  people 


a  iv  going  to  demand  "  \Vlio  got  the  $1.30 1'"  that  there  will  be 
"disturbed  business  conditions"  until  the  people  '"'go  to  sleep 
again."  I  read  an  article  contributed  by  a  leading  manufacturer 
of  pianos  recently,  wherein  he  protested  that  the  manufacture 
of  pianos  was  not  prosperous,  because  the  consumer  had  to 
pay  one  hundred  per  cent,  more  for  the  piano  than  the  manu- 
facturer received  for  the  finished  article. 

I  have  been  told  by  those  who  should  know  that  an  auto- 
mobile that  is  sold  for  $2,200  does  not  net  the  manufacturer 
$1,000. 

I  might  go  on  indefinitely  with  almost  every  article  of  com- 
merce and  the  story  would  be  the  same. 

W.  G.  Lee,  President  Brotherhood  of  Railroad  Trainmen, 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 

1  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  as 
clear  and  workable.  I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
Law.  but  believe  that  it  should  be  amended,  making  it  workable, 
and  in  such  manner  that  it  will  accomplish  its  original  intent, 
liailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade 
unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Act.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers  not 
unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

In  my  opinion,  the  present  law  can  bo  made  to  answer  its 
original  purpose,  if  properly  construed  by  those  elected  and 
appointed  for  that  purpose.  It  has  been  warped,  bent  and  almost 
broken  in  an  attempt  to  apply  it  to  cases  never  contemplated 
bv  the  :f miners. 

John  F.  Tobin,  General  President,  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers' 
Union,  Boston,  Mass. 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted, 
has  proved  to  be 'clear  and  workable.  I  do  not  consider  it 
feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  what  are  commonly  known 
as  "  old  competitive  methods "  in  business.  I  most  decidedly 
favor  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  I  favor  the  amending 
of  the  Sherman  Law  by  striking  out  all  after  the  first  word 
in  the  law  and  substituting  therefor  a  law  which  will  regulate 
a  business,  squeeze  the  water  out  of  corporations  and  fix  a 
fair  return  for  the  material  investment,  and  prohibit  the  draw- 
ing of  large  salaries  by  officials  which  makes  them  a  burdensome 
tax  upon  the  business.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and 
regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

In  accordance  with  what  is  said  to  be  a  very  distinct  under- 
standing previous  to  the  passage  of  the  Sherman  Act,  trade 
unions  should  be  exempt  from  its  operation.  I  can  see  a  vast 
difference  between  a  combination  of  workmen  maintaining  a 


337 

certain  standard  of  wages — which  might  be  a  high  standard — 
and  a  combination  of  manufacturers  or  distributors  who  might 
maintain  a  high  standard  of  selling  prices  for  the  advantage  of 
a  limited  number  of  persons.  In  the  case  of  trade  unions,  the 
high  wages  would  be  put  into  general  circulation  and  have  a 
tendency  to  stimulate  business.  I  would  not  favor  combinations 
of  fanners  to  restrict  production  or  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices 
as  against  the  people,  but  I  do  justify  them  in  their  present 
combinations  against  other  combinations  who  seek  to  exploit  the 
farmers  and  force  them  to  accept  low  prices  while  exacting  the 
highest  rates  from  the  people. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  employed  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

In  my  judgment,  the  present  disturbed  business  condition 
is  due  to  the  wide  margin  that  exists  between  the  actual  cost 
of  production  and  the  retail  selling  price  to  the  consumer. 
The  tendency  of  the  times  has  been  to  diminish  the  cost  of 
production  and  increase  the  selling  price  to  the  consumer,  the 
result  of  which  is  more  frequent  panics  or  business  depressions 
because  of  the  inability  of  the  people  to  consume  what  has  been 
produced. 

AVe  are  spending  valuable  time  in  the  pursuit  of  efficiency 
in  manufacture,  and  imitators  of  real  efficiency  in  the  manu- 
facturing field  are  taking  every  opportunity  to  cheapen  produc- 
tion by  intensifying  labor  and  reducing  wages.  The  time  and 
effort  put  into  efficiency  could  be  most  profitably  directed  to 
efficiency  in  distribution,  so  that  the  retail  prices  might  be 
brought  within  a  closer  range  of  the  actual  cost  of  production. 
In  this  field,  measured  by  money  value,  dollars  can  be  saved  as 
against  cents  in  the  other  field. 

James  Duncan,  Secretary-Treasurer,  The  Granite  Cutters' 
International  Association  of  America,  Quincy,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is  not  clear  and 
workable.  I  would  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  only 
to  permit  the  passage  of  a  practical  similar  act.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  amended  to  bring  and  keep  large  financial  and 
transportation  corporations  under  governmental  supervision 
and  control,  preventing  corporation  monopolies,  and  the  "  freez- 
ing out "  process  of  small  competing  concerns  should  be  declared 
positively  criminal.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  They  are  not  in  busi- 
ness, nor  arc  they  nor  can  they  form  transportation,  interstate 
or  profit-making  trusts  or  corporations;  hence  are  not  compre- 
hended in  such  an  '"  act."  As  to  combinations  of  farmers,  re- 
striction of  production  should  never  be  "  rendered  lawful  "  under 
the  "  Sherman  "  or  any  other  act.  Holding  crops  for  higher 
prices,  when  done  by  individuals  as  such,  is  not  unlawful,  but 


a  combination  by  farmers  to  do  so  simply  to  force  higher  prices 
should  be  "  rendered  unlawful." 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law — one  such  as  would 
require  publicity  of  the  business,  purposes  and  workings,  in- 
cluding profits,  of  the  concern  incorporated,  and  that  all  large 
interstate  concerns  should  come  under  the  law.  I  consider  that 
some  such  commission  as  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with 
powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers,  would  be  helpful. 

In  my  judgment,  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the 
rapacious  greed  of  "  big  business  "  to  get  rich  quickly,  thereby 
causing  an  unprotected  public  to  pay  unwarranted  and  exceed- 
ingly inflated  prices.  So-called  "watered  stock"  should  be 
declared  a  criminal  process,  and  should  have  heavy  penalties. 
"  Watering  "  stock  is  dishonest  in  any  event  and  should  be  pre- 
vented in  any  form. 

Since  the  recent  United  States  Supreme  Court  decision 
reading  into  the  "  Sherman  Act "  certain  alleged  "  reasonable- 
ness," the  law  as  interpreted  is  made  so  elastic  that  no  one, 
including  the  Chief  Justice,  may  know  what  the  law  means  on 
any  subject  until  a  majority  of  the  Supreme  Court  has  decided 
on  every  point  of  interest  involved  that  may  be  raised  under  it. 
It  is  no  longer  the  "Act"  with  which  the  public  has  to  deal, 
it  is  what  may  be  construed  to  be  "  reasonable,"  <md  the  courts 
hold  themselves  sole  judges  of  what  is  or  may  be  "  reasonable." 
This  is  the  boldest  of  their  efforts  and  attempts  to  be  legislative 
as  well  as  judicial  tribunals  and  should  be  speedily  corrected. 

G.  H.  Steele,  Chairman  General  Committee,  Order  of  Rail- 
way Conductors  for  Central  and  Northwestern  Rail- 
way, Clinton,  la. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  I  do  not  con- 
sider it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in  business. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  either  be  amended  to  allow  reason- 
able combinations  in  the  interest  of  economical  production  and 
control  of  prices  within  reasonable  limits,  or  it  should  be  re- 
pealed. Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  and  trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 

I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  Present  disturbed  business  conditions 
are  due  to  the  greed,  jiot  only  of  corporate  interests,  but  of  the 
people  at  large,  and  to  the  activity  of  demagogues  and  cheap 
politicians.  If  all  corporations,  not  only  those  termed  "public 
service,"  but  others  as  well,  were  restricted  to  a  reasonably  gen- 
erous return  on  the  capital  actually  invested,  and  subjected  to 
the  supervision  of  an  honest  board  or  commission,  it  would  not 
only  make  for  the  betterment  of  conditions  in  general,  but 
would  also  tend  to  eliminate  the  "get-rich-quick"  concerns 
which  rob  the  easy  ones. 


339 

The  Central  Labor  Council  (Affiliated  with  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  and  California  State  Federation 
of  Labor),  Los  Angeles,  Cal.  (E.  H.  Misner,  Presi- 
dent; L.  W.  Butler,  Secretary-Treasurer). 

First  Question — Do  you  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law,  us 
HOW  interpreted,  is  made  clear  and  workable?  Answer — .No. 
It  is  very  evident  to  us,  as  union  men,  that,  as  a  law,  it  i- 
un-American  and  almost  impossible  to  enforce. 

Second  Question — Do  you  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to 
I'd  urn  to  what  are  commonly  known  as  old  competitive  methods 
in  business?  Answer — In  the  first  place,  we  believe  this  would 
be  impossible  and  absolutely  impracticable,  and  in  the  second 
place,  we  believe  that  competition  sooner  or  later  leads  to  co- 
operation, and  although  at  this  time  a  hardship,  will  become  in 
time  a  blessing  to  the  world. 

Third  Question — Do  you  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law? 
.  I  iifsircr — Yes.  For  the  same  reasons  as  given  in  answer  one. 

Fourth  Question — Do  you  favor  amending  the  Sherman 
Law?  If  so,  in  what  particulars?  Answer — Xo. 

Fifth  Question — Should  railroads  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  approval  and  regulation 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission?  Answer — As  applied 
to  passenger  and  freight  rates,  we  answer  no,  as  we  believe  that 
all  persons,  firms  and  corporations  should  pay  the  same  rates  as 
set  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  As  applied  to 
rates  of  hours  and  wages  worked  and  paid  by  and  to  employes, 
we  answer  yes;  we  believe  that  railroad  companies  should  be 
permitted  and  encouraged  to  enter  into  agreements  with  their 
employes. 

Sixth  Question — Should  trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act?  Answer  Yes.  Trade  unions 
are  not  in  business  for  profits,  but  to  sell  their  labor  power,  and 
should  be  permitted  to  enter  into  agreements  with  any  person, 
firm  and  corporation  to  collectively  to  sell  their  labor  to  the 
employers  at  the  best  figure  possible. 

>'>' rentJi.  Question — Should  combinations  of  farmers,  either 
to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  be 
rendered  lawful  under  the  Sherman  Act?  Answer — We  believe 
the  farmer  has,  or  should  have,  the  right  to  do  as  he  pleases  with 
his  crops,  so  long  as  he  does  not  destroy  them.  Every  person 
should  have,  to  hold  his  own,  the  full  social  product  of  his 
Inbors,  so  long  as  he  does  not  exploit  any  other  person. 

Eiyhth  Question — Do  you  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law?  Anxircr — Yes.  Provided  all  State  incorporation  laws  are 
repealed. 

Ninth.  Question — Do  you  favor  a  Federal  license  law? 
Answer — The  question  is  not  clear  to  us;  however,  we  might  say 
that  labor  unions,  generally,  are  not  in  favor  of  license  in  any 
form,  where  applying  to  workmen;  in  fact,  we  feel  that  license 


840 

could  be  substituted  for  a  more  equitable  taxation  on  all  property 
and  commodities. 

Tenth  Question — Do  you  favor  an  I  nterstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers : 
Answer — Xo.  Interstate  Commerce  Commissions  should  be 
composed  of  representatives  I'mm  all  States  of  the  Union. 

Klvrentli  Question — In  your  judgment  what  caused  or  causes 
tlie  present  disturbed  business  conditions?  .  I  murcr— Many  rea- 
sons are  advanced  for  the  causes  of  these  disturbances,  but  we 
do  not  agree  with  most  of  them,  as  it  is  our  opinion  that  the  real 
and  only  reason  is,  that  all  the  workers  are  not.  because  of  the 
present  wage  system,  able  to  buy  the  product  of  their  labor. 
thereby  causing  a  surplus  on  the  markets  of  the  world  of  all 
tilings  grown  and  produced,  and  as  this  condition  is  becoming 
world-wide,  it  would  naturally  cause  a  continual  system  of 
panics. 

Charles  A.  Evans,  President  of  Cigarmakers'  Union,  Finan- 
cial Secretary  of  Saginaw  Federation  of  Labor  and 
Chairman  of  Legislative  Committee,  Saginaw,  Mich. 

The  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is  neither  clear  un- 
workable. This  is  especially  true  with  reference  to  the  Tobacco 
case.  It  is  not  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods; 
but  large  combinations  should  be  controlled.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  by  eliminating  the  "rule  of  reason"  and 
by  strengthening  the  criminal  penalties'.  Trade  unions  should 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act — any  organ  i- 
/ation  without  capital  stock  should  be  exempt.  Combinations 
of  farmers  should  be  permitted.  Farmers  are  original  pro- 
ducers; therefore  they  cannot  .ever  become  a  monopoly.  The 
reason  for  this  is  obvious.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  In  a  general  way 
I  favor  the  amendment  to  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law,  about 
to  be  introduced  by  Representative  Henry  of  Texas,  which  would, 
in  our  opinion,  restore  this  law  to  its  original  intentions  and 
purposes. 

Fred  Brockhausen,  Secretary-Treasurer,  Wisconsin  State 
Federation  of  Labor,  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law.  as  now  interpreted,  a> 
clear  and  workable.  I  favor  its  repeal.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreement.-  alTerting  rates,  subject  to  the 
approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion; trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 
Sherman  Act,  and  combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict 
production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices  should  be  ren- 
dered lawful.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  rob- 
bing the  people  of  their  purchasing  power.  I  do  not  favor 
national  incorporation.  Federal  license  ->r  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commision. 


.",41 

Chas.  E.  Mclntosh,  Chairman  General  Committee  of  Ad- 
justment, Order  of  Railway  Conductors,  Union 
Pacific  Railway,  Council  Bluffs,  Iowa. 

Tin-  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  ami  workable,  and  I  believe 
it  is  a  farce.  Jf  the  Tobacco  and  Oil  decisions  are  the  true 
interpretations  of  the  law.  the  law  should  be  amended  by  cut- 
ting out  tlu-  criminal  penalty  or  enforcing  it,  but  preferably 
ilic  latter.  Moneyed  men  don't  care  for  a  fine  usually,  if  the 
profits  of  the  illegal  combination  are  satisfactory.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission;  Imr  I  believe  that  the  commission  is  retarding  the 
economical  operation  of  railways  by  rulings  on  detail  matters — 
too  much  red  tape.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act;  if  they  are  not,  the  members  of 
such  unions  have  no  defence  against  reduction  in  wages  or  poor 
working  conditions.  Combinations  of  farmers  should  be  ren- 
dered lawful  under  the  Sherman  Act,  because  it  is  practically 
impossible  to  organize  farmers  or  workingmen  into  organiza- 
tions of  large  membership  and  control  their  actions,  when  self- 
interest  only  is  the  support  of  such  organizations. 

1  favor  a.  national  incorporation  law  as  a  protection  to  in- 
vestors, and  a.  Federal  license  law  to  provide  revenue  only.  I 
do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  There  are  too 
many  law-administrating  bodies  at  present,  and  if  we  get  a  few 
more,  the  government  might  as  well  run  the  entire  job. 

The  high  cost  of  living,  due  to  much  prosperity  among  the 
well-to-do  and  the  other  fellow  endeavoring  to  follow  suit,  is 
among  the  causes  of  disturbed  busines>  conditions.  Added  to 
this  are  vicious  combinations  of  tradesmen  and  producers  to  get 
all  the  traffic  will  bear,  without  regard  to  the  rights  of  other-: 
the  employment  of  women  and  children  in  manv  industries,  while 
the  father  walks  the  streets  on  account  of  the  age  limit;  the 
immigration  laws  that,  permit  this  count ry  to  be  Hooded  with 
newcomers,  many  of  whom  are  of  an  undesirable  class  and 
whose  labor  tend-  to  bring  the  American  down  from  a  comfort- 
able standard  of  living  to  that  of  the  lowest  grade  of  European 
and  Asiatic  pariahs.  The  above  are  some  of  the  reasons  that 
make  the  ordinary  citizen  unhappy  when  he  observes  that  cor- 
porations and  individuals  wax  fat  on  the  pelf  accumulated  bv 
such  means.  The  result  is  that  many  naturally  tend  toward 
retaliation  against  the  millionaire  class,  and  the.  latter,  rudelv 
disquieted  in  their  heretofore  secure  possession  of  wealth  and 
power,  give  utterance  to  hostile  and  unfriendly  expressions 
toward  the  masses  and  restrict  their  investments,  thus  depriv- 
ing many  of  employment. 


342 

Ralph    V.    Brandt,    General    Secretary-Treasurer,    Lathers' 
International  Union,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

1  do  not  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law,  a>  now  intn-pivte.l. 
is  made  clear  and  workable,  but  I  believe  it  was  entirely  work- 
able before  the  recent  impossible  Standard  Oil  and  Tobacco 
cases  decisions.  I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  what  are  com- 
monly known  as  old  competitive  methods  in  business,  with  a 
law  that  would  prevent  the  control  of  over  '1^  per  cent,  of  any 
industry  in  the  hands  of  any  corporation. 

With  onr  consular  service  taken  entirely  out  of  politics  and 
the  men  appointed  to  these  positions  picked,  not  with  ihc  inten- 
tion of  paying  political  debts,  but  only  with  the  idea  of  select- 
ing men  who  arc  peculiarly  qualified  to  advance  our  commer- 
cial interests,  I  am  sure  that  all  that  can  now  be  accomplished 
in  the  way  of  expanding  our  trade  through  great  aggregations 
of  capital  and  industry  could  be  accomplished  through  trade 
guilds,  with  the  assistance  of  such  a  consular  service.  In  fact, 
more  should  be  accomplished  through  these  means,  for  the 
reason  that  our  wares  looking  for  foreign  markets  would  not 
have  to  seek  returns  on  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollar-  of 
water-logged  capital,  such  as  is  now  the  case  with  most  of  the 
products  put  on  the  market  by  the  big  industrial  corporations 
now  in  existence. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended,  by  cutting  out  that 
"unreasonable  restraint "  interpretation  and  making  provision 
for  criminal  punishment  of  those  who  violate  the  provisions  of 
the  law.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission;  but  limit  them  exclusive!  v 
to  the  transportation  business.  Trade  unions  should  be  ex- 
cepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  be- 
cause nothing  they  could  do  could  be  justly  construed  into  an 
act  in  restraint  of  trade.  Farmers  should  be  allowed  to  com- 
bine, but  not  brokers  or  speculators.  1  do  not  believe  it  would 
be  possible,  where  there  are  so  many  people  concerned,  for 
farmers  to  successfully  combine  to  hold  crops  for  higher  price- 
in  such  a  way  as  to  appreciably  affect  the  price  of  any  par- 
ticular crop. 

I  do  not  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  if  that  would 
mean  unlimited  combination.  Yes,  if  it  would  not.  I  make 
the  same  answer  to  Federal  license.  I  do  not  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  With  a  return  to  a  real  competitive 
basis,  competition  will  do  the  necessary  regulating.  Stock 
advertisements  should  be  barred  from  the  mails  until  approval 
has  been  given  by  a  government  commission  or  board,  and  that 
approval  only  given  where  the  stock  to  be  issued  will  represent 
tangible  assets  equal  to  the  amount  of  stock. 

Present  disturbed  business  conditions  arc  due  to  the  fact 
that  such  large  interest  have  come  into  the  control,  directly 
or  indirectly,  of  a  very  few  men,  who  are  using  tbe  power 


343 

which  these  large  interests  give  them  to  frighten  the  people 
against  the  advisability  of  a  change  in  the  conditions  which 
have  enabled  them,  by  manipulating  the  stock  market  and  by 
other  questionable  means,  to  bring  this  great  wealth  into  their 
power. 

F.  S.   Tomlin,  Glass   Blower  and   Secretary  of  the  Joint 

Labor  Legislative  Conference  of  Greater  New  York, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Business  disturbances  are  due  to  uncertainty  as  to  what  may 
happen  next,  not  from  natural  and  unpreventable  causes,  but 
such  as  are  being  injected  into  the  situation  by  the  President, 
the  Attorney-General  and  the  courts.  These  may  be  very  able 
lawyers,  but  certainly  have  shown  no  signs  of  broad,  fair-sided 
constructive  statesmanship.  The  lack  of  a  sound  banking  and 
monetary  system  is  also  a  cause  of  business  disturbance. 

It  is  extremely  doubtful  whether  a  permanent  and  continuous 
condition  of  moderate  but  wholesome  prosperity,  that  would 
permit  of  a  general  adjustment  of  supply  to  demand  and  pre- 
vent "  booms "  on  one  hand  and  panics  on  the  other,  can  be 
created  and  maintained,  unless  we  can  realize  a  higher  moral 
business  standard.  So  long  as  we  pat  the  man  on  the  back 
who  sells  gold  brick  stocks  in  a  company  which  has  no  existence, 
except  in  the  air,  watered  stock  in  an  otherwise  good  company, 
or  any  commodity  to  a  person  who  is  defrauded  in  taking  it,  so 
long  we  encourage  crime  and  wrong-doing  and  keep  down  the 
moral  standard  in  business.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The 
Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed,  the  sooner  the  better.  It 
was  passed  in  the  last  century  as  a  sop  to  populism  and  should 
be  relegated  to  the  political  scrap  pile.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

G.  W.  Gibson,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  International  Asso- 

ciation of  Car  Workers,  Chicago,  111. 

It  seems  that  the  present  disturbed  business  conditions  are 
primarily  the  result  of  the  general  depression  caused  by  rail- 
roads for  what  appears  to  be  some  unintelligible  reason.  This 
depression  appears  to  have  reacted  upon  business  conditions 
throughout  the  entire  country.  The  Sherman  Law  does  not 
seem  clear  enough  and  should  be  amended  to  make  it  explicit 
in  itself  and,  if  possible,  so  that  only  one  interpretation  can 
be  placed  upon  it.  I  certainly  believe  that  trade  unions  should 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  I  do  not 
believe  in  the  incorporation  of  labor  organizations.  Perhaps 
the  formation  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  acting  in 
junction  with  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  might  prove 
beneficial. 


J.  N.  Faithorn  (now  out  of  active  business,  formerly  rail- 
road work),  Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law,  in  my  judgment,  is  clear  and  workable; 
and  it  is  not  only  feasible  but  desirable  to  return  to  old  com- 
petitive methods  in  business.  Congress  should  not  amend  the 
Sherman  Law.  The  United  States  Supreme  Court  will  appar- 
ently amend  by  further  construction  ere  long.  It  may  even- 
tually be  necessary  for  Congress  to  again  take  a  hand,  but  at 
present  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  would  appeal*  to  be 
equal  to  the  situation. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  but  simply  from  the 
standpoint  of  simplicity,  not  because  I  believe  that  the  national 
government  should  run  the  affairs  of  the  people,  in  the  sense 
of  controlling  profits. 

In  my  judgment,  disturbed  business  conditions  arc  primarily 
caused  by  the  shocking  action  of  Congress  in  regard  to  the 
"tariff,"  so  called.  The  people  have  at  last  come  to  a  realizing 
sense  of  the  fact  that  Congress  has  not  been  legislating  for  the 
whole  people,  but  for  classes.  The  presidential  election  over, 
with  presumably  a  Democrat  as  President — and  naturally  cir- 
cumspect action  on  the  part  of  the  Democrats,  for  a  while  at 
least — by  the  close  of  19111  business  will  probably  be  booming 
again,  and  the  country  will  have  forgotten  all  about  these  griev- 
ances. 

J.  Pease  Norton,  Chairman,  Section  of  Economics  of  the 
American  Association  for  Advancement  of  Science, 
New  Haven,  Conn. 

I  prefer  Federal  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce;  also  .Federal  supervision  of  issues  of  new 
securities  of  any  class  for  all  corporations  doing  an  interstate 
business.  1  believe  in  holding  companies.  1  prefer  sta lute- 
expressly  forbidding  specified  practices  for  dealing  with  unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  The  great  advantage  of 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale  is  the  possibility  of  securing 
capital  at  a  lower  rate  of  interest  when  the  corporation  is  big- 
enough  to  secure  international  loans.  1  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed 
by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common 
carriers,  but  the  same  end  may  be  accomplished  by  control  of 
new  issues  of  securities. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  which  is  neither  clear 
nor  workable.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  hut  com- 
binations of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold 
a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  rendered  lawful.  I  con- 
sider that  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  an  approach- 
ing international  crisis. 


H.  H.  Weir,  Printer,   Meridian,   Miss. 

.Disturbed  business  conditions  arc  due  in  an  important  de- 
gree to  the  growing  intelligence  ol;  the  producing  and  laboring 
class,  which  is  demanding  more  flay  by  day  (and  rightfully) . 
and  the  struggle  of  the  wealth-accumulating  class  to  combat 
ibis  real  sign  of  advancement.  Something  is  out  of  balance 
when  the  producer  and  the  laborer  receives  only  a  small  pro- 
portion of  the  wealth  he  produces,  and  his  advancing  intelli- 
gence is  telling  him  that  he  is  not  being  fairly  treated.  On 
the  other  hand  the  wealth-accumulating  class  will  not  be  driven 
from  their  position  that.  "  Buy  labor  as  cheap  as  you  can ;  sell 
its  products  as  high  as  you  can;  pocket  the  difference,"  is  the 
right  theory  of  business.  If  some  principle  could  be  promul- 
gated which  would  eventually  lead  men  to  tiie  feeling  that 
"  labor,  the  producer  and  the  capitalist  "  were  all  partners,  that 
they  each  deserve  to  share  in  the  producing  of  wealth,  and  that 
neither  class  should  be  preferred  above  the  other;  that  neither 
abnormally  high  wages,  prices  for  raw  material,  nor  excessive 
profits  upon  the  finished  product  will  produce  a  permanent  pros- 
perity. I  believe  that  disturbed  conditions  of  business  would  stop. 
IJrieily.  to  my  mind,  high  cost  of  living,  slight  participation  in 
the  accumulations  of  wealth  by  those  who  either  supply  the 
material  or  the  labor,  and  a  growing  knowledge  that  these  con- 
ditions exist,  together  with  a  determination,,  on  the  one  hand, 
to  secure  this  Jacking  participation  and,  on  the  other  hand,  to 
resist  it.  is  the  real  cause  of  the  unrest  and  mistrust  which 
exists. 

Edwin  William  Weeks,  General  Secretary-Treasurer, 
Brotherhood  Railway  Carmen  of  America,  Kansas 
City,  Mo. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  arc  caused  b}r  too  many  laws, 
too  many  politicians,  too  much  government,  too  much  circum- 
locution and  red  tape.  We  need  fewer  laws,  and  those  laws 
more  plain;  we  need  fewer  lawyers,  fewer  courts.  None  of  us 
knows,  as  it  is  now.  when  we  are  breaking  laws.  The  laws 
should  be  few,  plain  and  well-enforced.  The  injunction  law 
has  been  worked  overtime  lately.  I  know  several  law-abiding 
Christian  citizens  who  are  trying,  like  myself,,  to  serve  God, 
their  day  and  generation;  who  have  never  wilfully  broken  anv 
lav.-,  either  human  or  divine,  and  who  have  been  recently  served 
with  injunctions  and  cited  to  appear  in  court.  It's  an  outrage 
and  a  disgrace.  This  is  only  one  instance.  I  could  cite  many 
more,  did  time  and  space  permit.  Amend  the  Sherman  Law 
in  accordance  with  the  opinion  of  the  late  Justice  Harlan.  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  Railroads  should  be  allowec'l 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  and  trade  unions  should  be  excepted 
from  the  Sherman  Law. 


346 

A.  Downey,  Secretary,  Trade  and  Labor  Council,  Ogdens- 
burg,  N.  Y. 

The  present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  a  de- 
sire on  the  part. of  a  comparatively  few  persons  of  extraordi- 
nary wealth  to  control  and  monopolize  business,  and  to  the 
fact  that  in  order  to  achieve  their  monopoly  they  have  re- 
sorted to  most  questionable  methods  which  the  government  in 
performing  its  duty  to  enforce  the  law  lias  brought  to  the  at- 
tention of  the  courts.  The  decisions  resulting  from  this  action 
on  the  part  of  the  government  have  led  to  uncertainty  and 
disquietude  injurious  to  business  in  general.  If  statistics  are 
to  be  credited,  an  enormous  amount  of  the  wealth  of  this  nation 
is  held  by  a  few  individuals,  and  the  power  which  they  are  en- 
abled to  exert  by  means  of  their  wealth  is  a  menace  even  to  the 
general  government  itself,  especially  in  times  of  financial  dis- 
tress. The  dangerous  use  to  which  enormous  wealth  can  he 
put  by  those  who  hold  it  was  shown  at  the  time  of  the  panic 
of  1907.  It  had  been  brought  about  by  Wall  street  operations. 
I"(  was  shown  in  the  matter  of  the  Tennessee  Coal  &  Iron  Com- 
pany, when  the  laws  of  the  land  were  suspended  at  the  dicta- 
tion of  financial  magnates,  who  gave  it  to  lie  understood  that 
if  they  could  not  have  their  own  way.  disaster  and  ruin  would 
be  spread  throughout  the  country.  It  is  necessary  to  curl) 
wealth  under  such  circumstances,  even  if  curbing  it  tends  to 
unsettle  business.  "Railroads  sbouTd  bo  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  Trade  unions  and  combinations  of  farmers  should 
be  excepte-d  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  I  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Henry  B.  Perham,  Telegraph  Operator  (President,  Order  of 
Railroad  Telegraphers;  Chairman,  Railroad  Em- 
ployees' Department;  Eighth  Vice-President,  Ameri- 
can Federation  of  Labor). 

The  Sherman  Law  as  now  interpreted  is  not  clear  and  work- 
able. I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  what  are  com- 
monly known  as  old  competitive  methods  in  business.  I  favor 
a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  b& 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  Farmers 
should  not  be  permitted  to  combine  to  restrict  production,  but 
should  be  permitted  to  hold  their  crops  for  higher  prices.  Dis- 
turbed business  conditions  are  caused,  in  my  judgment,  by  the 
fact  that  large  business  interests  fear  losing  some  part  of  their 
power  for  profit-making.  I  favor  Federal  and  State  laws  pro- 
viding that  no  charter  snail  be  granted  to  any  corporation  with- 
out Federal  or  State  supervision.  Corporations  should  not  be 
instituted  by  the  State,  and  left  free  to  do  as  they  please.  I 
favor  Federal  and  State  corporation  commissions  to  compel  cor- 
porations to  transact  business  on  an  equitable  basis. 


347 

A.  R.  Linn,  Accountant,  and  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of 
New  York  Division,  Order  of  Railroad  Telegraphers, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

1  agree  with  the  late  Justice  llarlan  in  bis  views  on  the 
enforcement  of  the  Sherman  Law.  The  Sherman  Law  is  0.  K. 
It  is  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  that  I  favor  amending. 
Railroads  should  he  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rate.-,,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  on  a  fair  basis  to  the  public  and  to  the 
carriers.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation 
of  the  Sherman  Act,  as  I  fail  to  see  where  they  are  formed  to 
"'  restrain  trade."  As  to  combinations  of  farmers,  the  restric- 
tion of  production  should  be  unlawful.  Prices  are  made  higher 
more  by  the  middleman  than  by  the  farmer  who  should  get  a 
fair  price  for  his  products.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law  on  a  proper  basis,  and  Federal  license  also  on  a  proper 
basis.  I  would  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if  not  too 
much  red  tape  and  delay  is  attached  to  it.  Business  disturb- 
ance is  due  to  persons  who  make  it  their  business  to  create  such 
sentiment  for  their  own  gain. 

Politics  interfere  too  much  in  investigations,  and  if  elimi- 
nated, the  issues  could  be  more  readily  settled  and  proper  legis- 
lation enacted  where  there  is  need  for  it  and  for  the  repeal  of 
unnecessary  legislation. 

G.  Dal  Jones,  Chief  Telegrapher,  Order  of  Railroad  Tele- 
graphers, Chicago  Division  No.  91,  Chicago,  111. 

In  my  opinion  an  honest  investigation  of  Wall  Street  would 
bring  to  the  public  and  to  Congress  matters  which  could  easily 
be  regulated  with  fairness  to  the  masses.  I  am  in  doubt  as  to 
the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  As  to  amendment,  I  would 
suggest  that  the  punishment  for  violations  should  be  made  more 
specific.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  under  the  assumption  that 
the  members  of  the  commission  will  deal  honestly  in  the  public 
interests.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation 
of  the  Sherman  Act.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Fed- 
oral  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Present  busi- 
ness disturbance  is  due,  in  my  judgment,  to  the  effort  to  make 
so-called  fixed  charges  on  highly  inflated  valuation  of  capital 
invested. 

O.  O.  Wagner,  Telegraph  Operator,  Millerstown,  Pa. 

Government  ownership  of  the  industries  under  the  recall 
\vould  stop  the  disturbed  business  conditions.  This  would 
reform  the  profit-sharing  system  and  give  labor  a  fair  equivalent 
for  its  services.  Trade  unions  ought  to  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act  and  should  not  be  treated  like  a 
trust,  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  rendered  lawful. 


848 

Winona  Wagon  Company,  Winona,  Minn. 

The  Sherman  Law.  a,-  now  interpreted,  is  far  from  clear 
and  workable  to  tho  ordinary  mind.  We  have  based  this  opinion., 
not  only  upon  our  inability  lo  comprehend  it,  but  upon  expres- 
sions from  others  who  are  connected  with  larger  and  more  im- 
portant corporations  than  ours. 

The  old  competitive  methods  are  sorely  out  of  date  and  en- 
tirely out  of  harmony  with  the  progress  the  Tinted  States  is 
e\ peeled  to  make. 

We  should  be  glad  to  see  the  Sherman  Law  repealed,  for.  a> 
now  interpreted  by  the  administration,  it  is  very  detrimental  to 
large  business  affairs  and  is  a  serious  impediment  to  progress 
If  not  repealed,  it  should  be  amended  so  as  to  permit  large 
;iggregaiions  of  capital  doing  business  safely  and  at  what  might 
be  called  a  fair,  legitimate  margin.  We  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration act  that  will  regulate  large  corporations  to  a  reason- 
aide  extent  and  permit  them  to  do  business  in  all  States  of  -lie 
Tnion.  Corporations  now  doing  an  extensive  business  in  this 
eountrv  are  entirely  "at  sea"  on  many  legal  points  in  the 
various  Slates,  as  well  as  not  being  advised  a<  to  their  right- 
under  the  Sherman  I  jaw. 

Onnan  W.  Ewing,  Insurance,  Officer  of  Labor  Organiza 
tion,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  Inter- 
stale  Trade  Commission.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are 
due  to  monopolization  of  large  industric-  and  the  working  of 
the  same  on  a  much  more  economical  basis  than  heretofore, 
the.  paving  of  large  profits  to  the  owners  or  controllers,  and 
the  resuhs  which  would  naturally  follow:  al<o  the  ac.ion  taken 
by  the  government  against  the  trusts. 

Jn  mv  •  opinion  it  is  not  feasible  to  return  to  competitive 
lines.  Economy  is  the  watchword  of  'he  hour  with  the  large 
corporations,  and  therefore  the  public.'  with  the  assistance  of 
the  central  government,  inu<t  be  economical  and  see  that  large, 
unreasonable  profits  are  not  exacted.  The  railroads  and  other 
great  industries  of  the  country  have  become  so  large  that  they 
are  quasi-public,  and  the  government,  which  is  the  people,  musi 
control  or  be  controlled. 

L.  Waldauer,  Cigarmaker,  Atchison,  Kan. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  to  make  the 
executive  heads  of  corporations  amenable  to  the  law  without 
(|uestion.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation 
of  the  Sherman  Act,  but  combinations  'of  farmers  to  restrict 
production  or  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices  should  not  be  made 
lawful.  Disturbed  conditions  of  business  are  due  to  the  un- 
settled condition  of  tariff  legislation.  I  am  in  favor  of  a 
national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law.  and  an  In- 
terstate Trade  Commission. 


Thomas  J.  Hoskins,  Locomotive  Engineer,  Chairman  of  the 
State  Legislative  Board  and  of  the  Southeastern  As- 
sociation, Knoxville,  Tenn. 

J  think  the  present  agitation  for  control  of  big  business  is 
I  mi  a  natural  result.  The  province  of  government  is  to  pre- 
serve the  general  good;  in  common  with  this  the  country  must 
be  developed:  but  in  order  to  do  this,  we  do  not  need  to  permit 
such  a  use  of  the  public  utilities  that  immense  fortunes  will  re- 
sult to  those  who  are  in  a  position  to  extract  unreasonable 
profits  from  the  public.  America  should  be  for  its  citizens 
first,  the  nation  should  grow  greater  and  stronger,  the  oppor- 
tunity of  the  individual  should  be  preserved,  the  policing  power 
should  be  commensurate  with  the  power  of  working  good  to  the 
public,  and  then  every  national  resource,  the  fortunes  of  the 
rich,  as  well  as  the  life  of  the  humble  poor,  should  be  brought 
to  serve  the  great  end.  I  am  in  favor  of  taking  no  backward 
step  in  the  eifort  to  control  monopoly  in  the  interest  of  the 
public  good,  but  I  believe  it  should  be  control,  effective  control, 
and  not  destruction. 

Austen  Davis,  Secretary  of  the  State  Federation  of  Labor, 
Salt  Lake  City,  Utah. 

The  absolute  control  of  the  means  of  production  and  dis- 
tribution by  about  100  men  is  the  cause  of  present  disturbed 
business  conditions.  An  Interstate  Trade  Commission  would 
be  acceptable  under  the  referendum  and  recall.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law  absolutely,  out  of  control  of  poli- 
tics. I  am  for  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  sub- 
stitution of  one  that  will  be  enforced  without  regard  to  condi- 
tions. Make  a  law  of  common  equity  that  will  give  benefits  to 
(In-  weak  and  deprive  the  strong  of  unequal  advantage.  To 
"  <  >  1  Kick  to  old  competitive  methods  would  be  retrogression ;  the 
"  interests "  have  set  an  example  that  will  be  improved  upon 
when  fairness  and  real  sanity  control.  To  the  question, 
"  Should  trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 
SliiTimin  Aci,"  my  answer  is,  "Not  when  illegally  doing  or 
permitting1  illegal  acts."  Combinations  of  farmers  to  restrict 
production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices  should  no  more 
ho  rendered  lawful  than  a  similar  combination  by  the  Standard 
Oil. 

Alexander  Ironside,  Secretary,  Vermont  State  Branch  of 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  Barre,  Vt. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  by  adopting  changes 
that  will  tighten  the  law,  letting  corporations  know  in  advance 
just  how  far  they  can  go.  Trade  unions  want  equality  before 
the  law.  Combinations  of  farmers  should  be  rendered  lawful. 
Over-production,  and  the  concentration  of  wealth  in  the  hands 
of  a  few.  have  caused  present  disturbed  business  conditions. 


350 

A.  B.  Garretson,  President,  Order  of  Railway  Conductors 

of  America,  Cedar  Rapids,  Iowa. 

I  do  not  believe,  that  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted, 
is  made  clear  and  workable.  Bailroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  and  trade  unions  should 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  It  would 
probably  be  desirable  to  create  such  a  tribunal  as  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed 
by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common 
carriers,  if  "  reasonable  "  or  "  unreasonable  "  distinctions  are  to 
be  made. 

Such  amendment  should  be  made  to  the  Sherman  Law  as 
will  make  it  possible  for  men  of  honest  purpose  to  know  whether 
or  not  they  are  engaged  in  acts  that  are  unlawful,  while  at  the 
same  time  furnishing  the  processes  for  criminally  prosecuting 
and,  if  found  guilty,  punishing  the  predatory  element  engaged 
in  "big  business/'  I  have  no  belief  in  the  necessity  of  stifling 
proper  combination,  but  under  no  circumstances  should  it  be 
permitted  to  an  extent  that  would  control  the  output  or  dictate 
the  price  of  any  product. 

B.  J.  Fitzgerald,  Passenger  Conductor,  and  Chairman  of  the 

Order  of  Railway  Conductors,  for  Frisco  Lines  in 
Texas. 

The  present  Sherman  Law,  effectually  enforced,  seems  suf- 
ficient to  protect  business  conditions  generally.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade 
unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Act  and  combinations  of  farmers  to  secure  fair  prices  for  their 
crops  should  be  lawful.  I  favor  national  incorporation  and 
Federal  license.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my 
opinion,  to  too  much  adverse  legislation,  particularly  as  applies 
to  railroads.  The  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  should  be 
empowered  to  make  rates  from  an  equitable  basis  that  will 
enable  railroads  to  earn  a  reasonable  profit  on  the  actual  capital 
invested. 

William  H.  Ross,  Secretary  Oil  City  Central  Labor  Coun- 
cil, Oil  City,  Pa. 

We  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  substitution 
of  some  provision  for  the  early  acquisition  by  the  government 
of  all  industries  that  have  reached  the  stage  of  monopolies.  AVe 
favor  national  incorporation  as  a  step  in  advance,  but  a  short 
time  limit.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  the 
inability  of  the  producers  to  assimilate  what  is  produced. 
Another  cause  lies  in  the  ambiguity  of  the  Sherman  Law. 
Progression  is  the  inevitable  law,  and  will  sooner  or  later  be 
taken  up  by  the  whole  people. 


351 

P.  H.  Morrissey,  President,  The  American  Railroad  Em- 
ployees and  Investors'  Association,  Chicago,  111. 

1  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate 
business.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and 
laws  should  be  enacted  providing  for  publicity  to  apply  to  com- 
mercial corporations  in  the  interest  of  minority  stockholders 
and  to  prevent  the  exploitation  of  investors. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  every  person 
and  interest  to  which  it  applies  will  know  what  it  permits  and 
what  it  prohibits.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  combinations  of  farmers  should 
be  rendered  lawful.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 
with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers.  Dis- 
turbed business  conditions  are  due  to  politics. 

Robert  Fechner,  Air  Brake  Machinist  (Secretary-Treasurer, 
Georgia  Federation  of  Labor),  Savannah,  Ga. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  It  is  not 
feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  I  favor  amend- 
ing the  Sherman  Law  along  the  lines  suggested  by  Samuel  Gom- 
pers.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  be 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  combina- 
tions of  farmers  should  be  rendered  lawful. 

I  am  not  prepared  to  state  any  preference  regarding  na- 
tional incorporation  or  Federal  license.  I  am  of  opinion  that 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  might  accomplish  a  great  deal 
of  good.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  largely  due,  in  my 
judgment,  to  the  different  constructions  placed  on  the  Sherman 
Anti-Trust  Act. 

H.  A.  Albright,  Bookkeeper,  Robertson  &  Co.,  Columbus, 
Miss. 

An  unjust  tariff  and  laxity  of  principle  in  business  deal- 
ings are  largely  responsible  for  disturbed  business  conditions. 
The  tariff  makes  existing  abuses  generally  possible.  The  pres- 
ent situation  is  arbitrarily  manufactured  by  the  "powers"  to 
prevent  just  legislation.  A  promise  to  lynch  a  few  of  them, 
like  any  other  traitors  to  society  or  State,  will  facilitate  the 
enactment  of  laws  that  would  be  just  to  all  the  people.  The 
present  situation  is  profitable  chiefly  for  the  trusts  and  for  the 
lawyers  who  get  immense  fees  for  telling  the  trusts  how  to  do 
it.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  national  incorpora- 
tion, a  tariff  for  revenue  only  and  revenue  for  legitimate  pur- 
poses only. 


A.    B.    Lowe,    President   of    International    Brotherhood    of 
Maintenance-of-Way  Employees,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

1  am  happj  to  say  that  our  business,  tliat  of  procuring  better 
conditions  for  the  maintenance  of  way  employees  on  the  railways 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  has.  he-Mi  \ery  good  this  year, 
and  on  every  railway  on  which  we  applied  for  an  increase  in 
rates,  or  the  improvement  in  existing  rules,  we  were  successful, 
not  only  in  obtaining  the  increase,  but  in  obtaining  it  with  the 
good  will  and  the  maintenance  of  very  cordial  relations  between 
our  committees  and  the  officials  of  the  different,  railways,  with 
the  one  exception  *  *  *.  "With  that  exception  our  year  has 
been  prosperous  and  peaceful. 

I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable. 
I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  make  agreements  affecting  rates. 
The  Sherman  Law,  if  not  repealed,  should  be  amended  so  that 
it  should  not  apply  to  labor  organizations.  I  can  intelligently 
and  confidently  recommend  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 
judging  by  the  good  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  has 
done. 

O.  Irwin,  Railway  Conductor,  General  Chairman,  O.  R.  C., 
New  Castle,  Pa. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  large  combinations 
of  capital,  held  by  a  few  men  whose  purpose  it  is  to  control 
the  finances  of  the  nation.  The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and 
workable  and  should  not  be  repealed.  It  should  be  amended 
so  as  to  control  the  issue  of  bonds  and  stocks,  and  thus  operate 
against  and  prevent  financial  piracy.  Railroad^  should  !>«• 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  be 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  Combina- 
tions of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop 
for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  rendered  lawful. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Federal  license  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Charles   A.    Yates,    Clothing   Cutter,   Central    Trades   and 
Labor  Assembly,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

I  believe  in  progress  and.  therefore,  do  not  favor  an  attempt 
to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  not  be  repealed,  but  it  should  be  amended  in  such  a 
war  as  to  carry  out  the  original  intention  of  the  framers  and 
also  make  it  plain  that  it  does  not  apply  to  labor.  Railroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  sub- 
ject to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor  a  na- 
tional incorporation  law.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are 
due  to  the  operations  of  high  financiers,  using  their  power  for 
their  own  profit  at  the  expense  of  the  public. 


353 

W.  H.  Hendershot,  Carpenter,  Foreman,  Secretary,  Local 
Union  No.  1044,  U.  B.  of  C.  &  J.  of  A.,  814  Fal 
avenue,  Charleroi,  Pa. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable,  and  that 
a  return  to  old  competitive  methods  is  feasible.  Competition 
is  the  life  of  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  neither  be 
repealed  nor  amended.  Eailroads  should  not  be  allowed  to  en- 
ter into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  do  not  see  how  the  Sher- 
man Law  can  be  applied  to  trade  unions,  as  they,  as  I  see  them, 
cannot  do  anything  to  restrain  trade.  As  to  farmers'  combina- 
tions, I  think  that  the  commission  merchant  and  the  retail 
stores  all  over  the  country  are  responsible  for  the  present  high 
cost  of  living,  and  not  the  farmers.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  first,  to  the  monopo- 
lies trying  to  scare  the  masses  into  submission ;  second,  I  think 
politics  are  pla}dng  an  important  part.  If  there  is  not  some- 
thing done,  and  done  quickly,  by  Congress,  there  is  going  to 
be  a  different  Congress  elected  that  will  SHOW  the  G-.  0.  P.  and 
Miss  Democracy  where  they  stand,  and  then,  we  know,  the 
trusts  will  go. 

F.  F.  Winsor,  Railroad  Agent,  The  St.  Joseph  and  Grand 
Island  Railway  Company,  Hansen,  Neb. 

The  State  has  been  legislating  against  railroads,  and  a  good 
deal  of  it  unjustly,  because  done  without  investigation  and  re- 
gardless of  our  interests  as  a  whole.  I  think  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  should  be  the  only  one  that  has  any- 
thing to  say  to  railroads  doing  an  interstate  business.  The 
States  should  keep  off.  What  is  wanted  is  justice  to  all.  Con- 
tinued bombarding  and  legislating  against  railroads  and  other 
corporations  is  the  chief  cause  of  business  disturbance.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  allow  combinations,  pro- 
vided they  are  watched  over  and  made  to  do  the  right  thing. 
We  need  combined  capita],  but  not  to  restrict  trade.  Live  and 
let  live.  Eailroads  "should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
I  think  trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of 
the  Sherman  Act. 

C.  D.  Johnson,  Locomotive  Engineer,  Alta  Loma,  Texas. 

I  believe  disturbed  business  conditions  to  be  caused  by  the 
large  money  interests  to  further  their  own  welfare.  I  think 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  would  be  a  good  plan.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  made  clearer.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  be  ex- 
cepted from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act  and  combina- 
tions of  farmers  should  be  permitted — it  is  their  only  salvation. 


354 

John  O'Brien,  Jas.  G.  McCutcheon  and  P.  J.  Nolan,  Special 
Committee,  Bradford  Trades  Assembly,  Bradford, 
Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  We  do  not 
consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  old  competitive  meth- 
ods in  business.  We  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
Law;  but  when  guilt  is  established.,  enforce  the  criminal  clause 
by  imprisonment.  Railroads  should  not  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  be  ex- 
cepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  We  are  not  a 
trust  or  combination  in  restraint  of  trade.  We  have  nothing 
to  sell  but  our  labor.  Combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  re- 
strict production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not 
be  rendered  lawful.  We  do  not  favor  national  incorporation, 
Federal  license  or  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  In  our 
judgment,  disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  the  mo- 
nopoly of  nature's  resources  and  the  ownership  of  the  means 
of  production  and  distribution  by  a  privileged  few  for  their 
private  gain  and  the  exploitation  of  the  masses. 

O.  N.  Ament,  Painter,  Aurora,  111. 

The  ownership  of  the  means  of  production  and  distribution 
being  in  the  hands  of  a  few  men  causes  disturbance  and  uncer- 
tainty in  business  circles  generally.  In  my  opinion  this  system 
is  becoming  unmanageable  and  must  be  taken  over  by  the  people 
and  managed  by  them  and  for  them.  That  alone  will  remedy 
the  past  and  present  evils.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  to  make  it  a  safeguard  against  corrupt  business  meth- 
ods. Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of 
the  Sherman  Act,  as  the  act  never  was  intended  for  labor  unions. 
Farmers  are  not  so  much  to  blame  for  high  prices  as  the  com- 
mission men  and  jobbers;  it  is  sufficiently  evident  that  the  evil 
does  not  rest  with  the  farmers. 

R.  H.  Elsworth,  Newspaper  Worker,  Traverse  City,  Mich. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  and  publicity  of  accounts  for 
companies  doing  interstate  business.  There  should  be  no  hold- 
ing companies.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization. 
I  admit  some  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale  but  do  not  admit  better  wages  for  labor  or  better 
protection  against  industrial  accidents. 

J.  Wall,  Railroad  Conductor,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  old  com- 
petitive methods  in  business.  I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, and  trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation 
of  the  Sherman  Act. 


355 

Spokane  Sectional  Central  Labor  Council,  Spokane,  Wash. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable, 
and  we  favor  its  repeal.  We  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to 
return  to  old  competitive  methods.  Eailroads  should  not  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions 
should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 
Under  any  reasonable  interpretation  of  the  act,  trade  unions 
cannot  be  said  to  come  under  its  provisions.  Combinations  of 
farmers  were  not  contemplated  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the 
act,  and  if  the  "  rule  of  reason  "  were  applied  in  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  act,  such  combinations  would  not  come  under  the 
provisions  of  the  law.  We  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

J.  T.  Hughes,  General  Chairman,  Order  Railway  Conduct- 
ors on  Northern  Pacific  Railway,  Duluth,  Minn. 

I  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law,  as  interpreted,  is  made 
clear;  but  I  cannot  say  as  to  its  being  workable.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  not  be  repealed;  nor  should  it  be  amended  until 
in  any  respect  it  is  found  to  be  unfair.  Then  it  should  be 
changed,  and  not  until  then.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  be 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  farmers 
should  be  allowed  to  combine  for  higher  prices.  I  favor  Federal 
license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.  R.  T.  Auston,  President,  Order  Railroad  Telegraphers, 
Agents  and  Signalmen,  and  Editor  "  Railroad  Wire 
and  Signal,"  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

General  business  seems  to  be  healthy,  but  "  cold  storage " 
and  the  controlling  of  the  necessary  articles  of  food  disturb  the 
consumer  and  make  his  pocketbook  empty.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  to  state  plainly  what  trusts  or  combinations 
shall  not  do,  and  make  the  penalty  imprisonment  instead  of  a 
fine.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  and  trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 

E.  G.  Pullen,  District  Lodge  No.  20,  International  Brother- 
hood of  Boilermakers,  Iron  Shipbuilders  and  Helpers 
of  America,  Waterloo,  Iowa. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  exclude  labor  or- 
ganizations and  all  other  organizations  not  operated  for  profit, 
from  the  restrictions  of  the  Act.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval 
and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  It  is 
not  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 


356 

A.  W.  Bennett,  Painter  and  Paper  Hanger,  Local  Union  No. 
1005,  Chickasha,  Okla. 

What  causes  the  present  disturbed  business  conditions?  The 
private  ownership  of  public  utilities  and  industries  upon  which 
the  whole  people  depend  for  existence.  Trade  unions  should 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  so  long 
as  there  are  private  combinations  of  capital  fighting  them. 
Combinations  of  farmers  should  also  be  excepted  under  the 
present  system  of  industry,  wherein  aggregations  of  private 
capital  are  controlling  the  markets  of  the  world.  The  Sher- 
man Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  I  do  not  consider  it  feas- 
ible to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  repealed.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  with  government  ownership  only. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Joseph  P.  Hunter,  President  of  Trades  and  Labor  Council, 
Paper  Hanger  and  Decorator,  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  clue  to  the  vicious  meth- 
ods of  Wall  Street.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  by 
making  violation  of  the  law  punishable  by  imprisonment.  Trade 
unions  should  emphatically  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of 
the  Sherman  Law,  and  farmers  should  be  allowed  to  combine. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements,  subject 
to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license 
law,  if  properly  drawn  up,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

John  A.  C.  Menton,  Cigar  Maker  and  Mayor,  Flint,  Mich. 

The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  should  be  as  dead  as  Sher- 
man. To  go  back  to  competition  is  school  boy  politics.  The 
Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  should  have  no  place  on  the  statute 
books.  By  being  there  stagnates  economic  evolution ;  and  the 
position  taken  by  President  Taft  should  relegate  him  to  the 
kindergarten  of  political  economy.  Trade  unions  should  be 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  I  favor  a 
Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

L.  Bowen,  Business  Agent  of  the  International  Association 
of  Machinists,  Birmingham,  Ala. 

The  unequal  distribution  of  the  wealth  to-day  is  what  causes 
disturbed  business  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear 
and  workable.  The  rule  of  reason  is  too  uncertain.  I  do  not 
favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  as  a  whole,  but  the  punish- 
ment should  be  made  certain.  The  law  should  be  amended  so 
as  to  read  as  it  was  intended  when  first  enacted;  that  is,  it 
should  not  apply  to  organizations  of  workingmen. 


357 

Edmond  Turmenne,  Weaver  in  a  Cotton  Mill,  District  Or- 
ganizer, A.  F.  of  L.,  Lewiston,  Me. 

Watered  stock  has  caused  the  present  disturbed  business  con- 
ditions. If  the  corporations  would  only  be  satisfied  with  a  rea- 
sonable interest  on  their  actual  capital,  I  think  a  great  step 
would  be  made  toward  reducing  the  cost  of  living,  and  all  in- 
dustries would  have  a  better  opportunity  in  the  field  of  competi- 
tion. Therefore,  I  believe  that  the  first  regulation  or  first  law 
to  be  enacted,  to  help  along  the  cause  of  civilization,  in  better 
living  conditions  for  the  whole  people,  would  be  to  make  a  law 
that  will  stop  forever  the  issuing  of  watered  stock,  or  anything 
of  the  kind,  which  is  not  actual  and  real  bonafide  capital. 

J.  W.  Hunter,  Railroad  Yard  Foreman,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

I  believe  that  the  laws  should  see  to  it  that  every  worker 
could  be  assured  of  a  fair  day's  pay  for  a  fair  day's  work,  and 
that  investors  should  receive  a  reasonable  return  on  their  in- 
vestments. At  the  same  time,  capitalists  should  not  be  allowed 
to  corner  everything  in  sight  at  the  expense  of  the  general 
public,  and  I  believe  you  gentlemen  of  The  National  Civic  Fed- 
eration can  bring  about  this  equitable '  adjustment  between  all 
concerned,  provided  there  is  anything  like  a  reasonable  willing- 
ness on  the  part  of  those  interested  to  be  guided  by  the  prin- 
ciples of  brotherhood  which  should  exist  between  all  mankind. 

C.  S.  Newcomb,  Station  Agent,  Frankfort,  Me. 

Uncertainty  due  to  the  Sherman  Act  and  its  enforcement 
is  the  cause  of  disturbance  in  business.  The  Sherman  Law 
has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable,  and  it  ought  to  be  re- 
pealed. Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 
Trade  unions  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law. 

J,  A.  Harrell,  Salesman  and  Secretary,  C.  L.  U.,  Frankfort, 
Ind. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  corporate  abuse 
of  power.  The  Sherman  Law  should  receive  necessary  amend- 
ments. I  do  not  think  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  for  interstate 
business,  and  also  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Geo.  H.  Lyon,  Chairman,  General  Committee  of  Adjust- 
ment, Order  of  Railway  Conductors,  Wabash  R.  R., 
Detroit,  Mich. 

Prime  cause  overcapitalization.  Overcapitalization  made  Sher- 
man Law  necessary.  Prosecutions  under  the  Sherman  Law.  These, 
no  doubt,  are  causes  of  present  disturbed  business  conditions. 


358 

W.  T.  Brown,  General  Chairman,  The  Order  of  Railroad 
Telegraphers,  C.,  R.  I.  &  P.  Ry.,  System  Division  No. 
126,  Marseilles,  111. 

No,  to  the  Sherman  Law  being  clear  and  workable.  No, 
to  old  competitive  methods.  No,  to  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
Law  and  to  a  national  incorporation  law.  Yes,  to  allowing 
railroads  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates  subject  to  ap- 
proval and  regulation  by  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Yes, 
to  excepting  trade  unions  from  the  operations  of  the  Sher- 
man Act.  Yes,  to  excepting  combinations  of  farmers.  Yes, 
to  a  federal  license  law;  and  yes,  to  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

G.  A.  Norton,  Conductor,  Maine  Central  R.  R.,  Portland, 
Me. 

What  caused  or  causes  the  present  disturbed  business  condi- 
tions? Graft.  I  regard  it  as  feasible  to  return  to  old  com- 
petitive methods.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  enforced  as 
it  is  without  amendments,  and  railroads  should  be  allowed  to 
enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval 
of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  but  com- 
binations of  farmers  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop 
for  higher  prices  should  not  be  rendered  lawful. 

Charles  W.  Longhead,  Linotype  Operator,  Akron,  Ohio. 

The  private  ownership  of  those  things  which  are  publicly 
used,  and  the  abuse  of  power  which  great  combinations  of 
capital  are  guilty  of,  have  caused  the  present  disturbance  of 
business.  The  evils  which  beset  the  body  politic  now  are  an 
inherent  part  of  the  chaotic  and  anarchistic  industrial  system 
we  now  have,  and  will  endure  until  that  system  is  displaced 
by  co-operation.  All  attempts  to  remove  or  neutralize  the 
effects  will  fail  as  long  as  the  cause  remains  untouched. 

D.  W.  Koppikus,  R.  R.  Agent,  East  Oakland,  Cal. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  the  trusts  and  high  cost  of 
living  and  low  wages  for  the  workingman.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended,  particularly  in  reference  to  its  present  ap- 
plication to  labor  organizations.  Individual  farmers  should 
have  the  right  to  hold  or  sell  their  crops,  but  a  combination 
should  not  be  allowed. 

D.  R.  Dunning,  Telegrapher,  208  Bloomer  avenue,  Elmira, 
N.  Y. 

The  I.  C.  C.  pulling  the  lines  on  the  corporations  after  so 
long  a  time  of  doing  as  they  liked  is  the  cause  of  the  com- 
motion. 


359 

Joseph  B.  Bode,  General  Chairman,  Order  of  Railroad  Tele- 
graphers, Boston  &  Maine  R.  R.,  General  Committee, 
Chelsea,  Mass. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  the  extent  of  mak- 
ing it  so  clear  that  corporations  will  know  whether  or  not  they 
are  doing  business  within  the  law,  thus  removing  the  possi- 
bility of  court  proceedings.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  because  the  members 
are  individuals  selling  their  labor  at  a  price  which  their  rep- 
resentatives (the  union)  may  obtain  for  them. 

Business  disturbance  is  caused  by  the  uncertainty  of  the  tariff 
issue  and  the  readjustment  of  business  to  the  "  uninterpreted  " 
Sherman  Law.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

J.  A.  Newman,  First  Vice-President,  Order  Railroad  Tele- 
graphers, Chicago,  111. 

Business  is  very  good  in  this  part  of  the  country.  I  do 
not  see  the  necessity  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  but 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended  so  as  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  people. 
Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 
Sherman  Act,  but  combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict 
production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be 
rendered  lawful. 

W.  E.  Sloan,  General  Chairman,  Order  of  R.  R.  Tele- 
graphers, Division  123,  Albert  Lea,  Minn. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  any  way  that  will 
help  the  wage-earner.  I  do  not  consider  it  clear  and  workable 
as  now  interpreted.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regula- 
tion of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  and  trade  unions 
should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 
I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

M.  M.  O'Mara,  Telegraph  Operator,  Tyrone,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  might  as  well  be  repealed,  as  it  never 
did  any  good,  except  in  the  Danbury  hatters'  case.  It  is  not 
feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  It  is  better  to 
go  forward  instead  of  backward.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  as  they  will  enter  into 
agreements  under  any  circumstances. 

Millard  Lowe,  Carpenter,  Local  Union  No.  1213,  U.  B.  of 
C.  Q.  J.  of  A.,  Mystic,  Iowa. 

We  have  no  competition.  The  business  of  the  country  is 
in  the  hands  of  a  few  men.  I  believe  that  the  Merchants'  As- 
sociation of  the  State  of  Iowa  ought  to  be  investigated.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  made  more  stringent  and  trade  unions 
excepted  from  its  restrictions. 


W.  E.  McEwen,  Secretary-Treasurer,  State  Federation  of 
Labor,  Duluth,  Minn. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  the  natural  consequence  of 
the  tardiness  of  the  Federal  government  in  meeting  with  con- 
structive legislation,  the  natural  and  evolutionary  development 
of  industry.  People  feel  that  they  are  being  robbed,  not  be- 
cause the  trusts  have  raised  prices,  but  because  of  their  immense 
earnings,  which  are  out  of  proportion  to  the  wages  paid  to  labor. 

Elimination  of  watered  stock,  publicity  and  price  regulation 
will  do  much  to  relieve  the  present  unrest.  After  this  the  only 
thing  to  be  feared  will  be  the  immense  power  that  a  great  cor- 
poration will  be  able  to  wield  over  its  wage  earners. 

Some  method  must  inevitably  be  devised  to  compel  the  pay- 
ment to  labor  of  a  living  wage  in  accordance  not  with  European 
standards,  but  with  the  American  standard. 

Belleville  Trades  and  Labor  Assembly,  Edward  P.  Baum, 
Secretary,  Belleville,  111. 

The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  should  be  so  amended  as  to 
exempt  labor  organizations.  The  reason  we  favor  this  amend- 
ment is  because  labor  organizations  should  not  be  classed  in  the 
same  category  as  trusts.  Labor  organizations  combine  for  the 
purpose  of  bettering  their  conditions  and  raise  the  wages  of  the 
toiling  millions,  the  majority  of  whom  have  a  hard  tussle  to  eke 
out  an  existence  at  the  high  cost  of  living,  whereas  trusts  are 
organized  or  combined  to  swell  the  fortunes  of  those  few  who 
already  have  millions. 

George  Cliften  Edwards,  Editor,  "The  Laborer,"  Dallas, 
Texas. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  As  to  an  amendment 
of  the  Sherman  Law,  see  Congressman  Berger's  new  bill  at 
beginning  of  the  next  session  (the  present  session).  Trade 
unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Act,  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  lawful.  I  favor 
a  -national  incorporation  law  and  a  Federal  license  law.  Dis- 
turbed business  conditions  are  due  to  the  fact  that  the  public 
are  awakening  to  the  robbery  capitalism  visits  upon  all  but  the 
very  few. 

Percy  Carpenter,  Editor,  "  Labor  Leader,"  Lancaster,  Pa. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable.  It  is  not  feasible 
to  return  to  old  competitive  methods.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the 
Sherman  Law,  and  am  not  prepared  to  discuss  its  amendment. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  and 
trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sher- 
man Act.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Control  by  the  "inter- 
ests" is  the  cause  of  business  disturbance. 


Chapter  V. 

EDUCATORS,    EDITORS,    PUBLICISTS 
AND    OTHERS. 


F.  W.  Taussig,  Professor  of  Political  Economy  in  Harvard 
University,  Author  of  "  Tariff  History  of  the  United 
States,"  "Wages  and  Capital/'  "Principles  of  Eco- 
nomics," and  Editor  of  the  "  Quarterly  Journal  of 
Economics." 

In  addition  to  the  methods  of  unfair  competition,  mentioned 
in  the  circular,  there  should  be  adduced  the  deliberate  sale  of  a 
product  by  a  large  concern  or  combination  at  less  than  cost,  for 
the  purpose  of  driving  smaller  competitors  out  of  the  business. 
Mention  should  be  made  also  of  the  establishment  of  bogus  com- 
petitors, in  reality  controlled  by  the  combination.  The  whole 
subject  of  fair  and  unfair  competition  should  be  newly  dealt 
with  by  the  legislature.  Unfair  competition  should  be  more 
carefully  denned,  and  further  remedies  of  a  penal  sort  should 
be  added  to  the  civil  remedies  which  the  law  now  provides. 

The  holding-company  system  is  bad.  It  lends  itself  to 
manipulation,  fraudulent  management  and,  above  all,  to  con- 
cealment. Yet,  as  matters  stand,  we  must  move  with  caution 
toward  getting  rid  of  it.  If  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission 
were  established,  it  could  appropriately  supervise  the  holding 
of  securities  by  great  corporations,  and  require  from  them  a  full 
statement  of  their  holdings,  direct  and  indirect. 

Among  the  advantages  on  which  stress  is  laid  in  favor  of 
combinations  is  the  prevention  of  relentless  competition,  and 
thereby  of  unwholesome  alternations  of  activity  and  depression. 
It  is  not  clear  how  fully  an  advantage  of  this  sort  is  attained. 
Steadier  employment  of  labor,  better  protection  against  acci- 
dent, greater  command  of  international  trade  may,  perhaps,  all 
be  secured  by  large-scale  production,  not  necessarily  by  combi- 
nation; and  for  this  phase  of  the  problem  we  must  still  await 
the  outcome  of  experience. 

I  favor  the  creation  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 
which  might  be  developed  from  the  existing  Bureau  of  Corpora- 
tions. For  the  present  its  functions  should  be  limited  and 
should  be  directed  more  particularly  toward  the  enrolment  and 
supervision  of  the  great  industries  which  threaten  to  develop 
into  combinations.  In  time  it  will,  perhaps,  prove  expedient  to 

361 


362 

enlarge  its  functions.  It  is  not  inconceivable  that  eventually 
direct  control  of  prices  may  be  entrusted  to  it,  as  control  over 
railroad  rates  is  entrusted  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion. But  regulative  legislation  of  this  sort  should  proceed 
tentatively  and  should  begin  with  the  gathering  of  accurate 
information. 

Henry  R.  S eager,  Professor  of  Political  Economy,  Columbia 
University,  New  York  City. 

In  my  opinion  the  trust  movement  has  been  in  part  arti- 
ficial, due  to  opportunities  afforded  to  promoters  for  large  gains. 
Enforced  publicity  and  fair  competition  would  enable  small 
producers  in  many  lines  to  hold  their  own;  in  some,  great  mo- 
nopolistic combinations  might  prove  more  efficient,  that  is,  en- 
able to  produce  or  sell  at  lower  cost  than  smaller  companies. 
and  for  them  regulative  policy  might  have  to  include  eventually 
control  of  prices.  I  believe,  however,  that  has  yet  to  be  demon- 
strated. 

I  prefer  Federal  incorporation.  This  might  be  made  op- 
tional at  first  and  coupled  with  certain  privileges  as  well  as 
certain  responsibilities,  but  should,  I  think,  eventually  be  made 
obligatory  on  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  do 
not  believe  in  holding  companies.  We  should  have  an  amend- 
ment to  the  Sherman  Act,  specifying  practices  in  reasonable 
restraint  of  trade.  The  Grerman  plan  of  enforced  publicity  and 
limitation  of  capital  to  actual  bona  fide  investments  appeals  to 
me.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  but  do  not  be- 
lieve such  a  commission  should  have  power  to  fix  prices,  unless 
the  need  of  such  power  under  the  new  system  is  clearly  demon- 
strated by  experience. 

Admitting  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  there  are,  of  course,  offsetting  disadvantages. 
If  conditions  of  fair  competition  were  maintained,  I  believe 
that  the  combination  movement  would  be  found  to  have  pretty 
definite  limits  in  most  branches  of  manufacturing. 

Francis  W.   Kelsey,  Author  and  Professor,  University  of 
Michigan,  Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

I  favor  Federal  control  of  companies  doing  interstate  busi- 
ness as  more  effective  in  the  long  run ;  but  I  have  an  open  mind 
on  this  point,  as  I  see  advantages  in  properly  guarded  State 
incorporation.  It  seems  reasonable  to  admit  the  existence  of 
advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale. 
The  larger  and  abler  the  staff,  the  more  effective  the  adminis- 
tration, and  with  abundant  capital,  economies  in  production, 
economies  in  distribution  and  greater  use  of  by-production,  will 
follow  steadier  employment  of  labor  and  better  wages,  better 
protection  against  industrial  accidents,  and  more  command  of 
international  trade  may  be  reasonably  expected. 


363 

In  regard  to  legislation,  statutes  expressly  forbidding  spe- 
cific practices  are  a  better  guide  to  honorable  men,  and  hence 
preferable.  There  is  less  chance  for  evasion  under  a  specious 
plea.  I  favor  emphatically  government  regulation  of  capitaliza- 
tion. I  also  favor  an  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  with 
laws  that  call  for  publicity  for  interstate  corporations.  Legiti- 
mate enterprises  of  large  scope  have  nothing  to  fear  from  reason- 
able publicity. 

Roswell  C.  McCrea,  Professor  of  Economics,  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate 
business  as  more  practicable  at  present;  but  I  see  no  vital  objec- 
tion to  national  incorporation.  This  might  be  made  optional 
also  for  corporations  doing  an  intrastate  business.  I  believe  in 
holding  companies  with  a  supervisory  commission.  I  favor  more 
specific  legislation,  leaving  some  latitude  for  the  exercise  of  dis- 
cretion on  the  part  of  a  regulative  commission.  I  favor  laws 
providing  for  government  regulation  of  capitalization,  and  laws 
that  call  for  publicity  and  that  apply  to  commercial  corporations 
through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose — meth- 
ods akin  to  those  now  used  in  regulating  common  carriers  and 
their  rates  through  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

William  Dinwiddie,  Chancellor  of  Southwestern  Presbyte- 
rian University,  Clarksville,  Tenn. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  busi- 
ness. Additional  legislation  should  be  enacted  only  if  necessary 
to  make  the  Sherman  Act  thoroughly  effectual.  I  am  opposed 
to  holding  companies.  While  admitting  that  advantages  claimed 
for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  are  potential  to  large 
corporate  business  and  are — some  of  them  in  some  cases — actual, 
I  believe  that  they  should  accrue  to  the  consumer  and  the  laborer 
and  not  to  the  undue  profit  of  the  corporation;  otherwise  it  is 
fallacious  to  claim  that  they  are  advanages  to  the  people  of  the 
country.  If  such  business  continued,  and  if  the  advantages 
claimed  are  not  actual  and  general,  I  should  prefer  Federal 
laws  permitting  agreements  which  regulate  production,  prices 
and  the  like  under  suitable  public  control. 

Charles  W.  Mixter,  Professor  of  Political  Economy,  Uni- 
versity of  Vermont,  Burlington,  Vt. 

Association  (combination,  agreement,  contract)  and  rivalry 
(competition,  business  war)  are  both  essential  and  irresponsible 
features  of  our  modern  free  economic  system  of  things.  In 
one  age  one  force  is  stronger,  and  in  another  age  the  other; 
they  swing  naturally  with  a  wisdom  greater  than  that  of  any 
parliament  or  commission.  Not  infrequently  competition  works 


364 

badly  for  the  public  and  ought  to  be  "  stifled "  and  have  its 
"  prices  controlled."  On  the  whole,  combination  needs  to  be 
favored  in  this  present  age  to  lessen  the  wastes  of  competition. 
What  we  need  in  the  way  of  government  regulation  is  a  new 
code  of  laws  defining  and  prohibiting  specific  harmful  business 
practices  of  both  the  association  and  the  rivalry  sort.  These 
should  be  ordinary  statutes  revised  from  time  to  time  as  occa- 
sion arises  and  administered  by  the  courts. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  because  the  funda- 
mental philosophy  of  the  Sherman  Act  is  unsound.  Substitute 
new  legislation  constructively  conceived,  facing  towards  the 
future,  prohibiting  alike  specific  acts  of  harmful  combination 
and  specific  acts  of  unfair  competition.  They  are  much  alike 
— improper  business  warfare. 

Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission.  It  was  a  great  error  ever  prohibit- 
ing railroad  agreements  at  all. 

The  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  are : 

(1)  The  after-effects  of  the  crisis  of  1907,  still  with  us. 

(2)  The  disconcerting  change  in  the  value  of  money  occa- 
sioned by  the  excessive  output  of  gold. 

(3)  General  social  unrest  and  socialistic  tendencies  caused 
by  the  "high  cost  of  living"    (brought  about  by  2)    and  by 
the  Roosevelt-LaFollette  agitation. 

(4)  Oppressive  regulation  of  the  railroads,  especially  with 
respect  to  rates  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

(5)  An   unwise   and  needlessly   aggressive   attitude   of  the 
administration  with  respect  to  enforcement  of  the  Sherman  Act. 
The   administration   should  proceed   as  regards  enforcing  this 
law  with   a  policy  of  "wise   and  salutary  neglect"  until  the 
people  and  Congress  have  had  time  to  think  and  act  anew. 

Eugene  E.  Agger,  Assistant  Professor  of  Economics,  Co- 
lumbia University,  New  York  City. 

I  prefer  Federal  incorporation  ultimately,  but  Federal  license 
as  a  trial  step  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce. 
I  favor  laws  preventing  holding  companies.  Ownership  and 
control  should  not  be  divorced.  The  Sherman  Law  seems  to 
me  to  be  adequate  to  deal  with  unfair  competition  and  restraint 
of  trade.  The  government  should  by  all  means  regulate  capital- 
ization. I  favor  laws  that  call  for  publicity  and  that  apply 
to  commercial  corporations,  through  a  commission  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose.  I  assent  to  the  statement  of  advan- 
tages claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  but  I 
regard  "  more  command  of  international  trade  "  as  a  doubtful 
advantage,  unless  based  upon  equitable  distribution  of  wealth 
at  home.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers 
not  unlike  those  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion in  relation  to  common  carriers. 


365 

A  sound  policy  will  preserve  competition  rather  than  en- 
deavor to  engender  it;  that  is  to  say,  it  will  not  force  it,  or  try 
to  force  it,  where  true  economy  lies  in  another  direction,  but 
it  will  always  preserve  the  possibility  of  competition. 

John  H.  MacCracken,  Professor  of  Politics,  New  York 
University,  New  York  City. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  com- 
merce. Holding  companies  should  be  temporary  devices  to  effect 
mergers,  not  for  continuing  ownership.  When  unfair  competi- 
tion and  restraint  of  trade  can  be  legally  formulated — and  a 
rule  admitting  general  application  is  possible — we  should  have 
specific  statutes  in  addition  to  the  general  law.  I  favor  laws 
providing  for  government  regulation  of  capitalization  and  call- 
ing for  publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations.  Large 
business  has  the  advantage  in  economies  in  production,  econo- 
mies in  distribution  and  more  command  of  international  trade. 
I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike 
those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in 
relation  to  common  carriers. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable,  as  now  interpreted. 
It  is  possible  to  prevent  monopoly  in  most  lines  of  business.  I 
do  not  think  that  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  as  yet. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  combinations  of 
farmers,  either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher 
prices,  should  not  be  rendered  lawful.  Unrestrained  greed,  in 
my  judgment,  has  been  the  chief  cause  of  business  disturbance. 

T.  Morey  Hodgman,  President  of  Macalester  College,  St. 
Paul,  Minn.,  and  George  W.  Davis,  Professor  of  So- 
cial and  Political  Science,  Macalester  College,  St. 
Paul,  Minn. 

We  prefer  national  incorporation  of  all  companies  doing 
interstate  business;  also  supplementary  constructive  legislation, 
prescribing  conditions  on  which  "  big  business  "  shall  be  organ- 
ized. We  favor  laws  to  prevent  one  company  from  holding  stock 
in  another  company.  The  remedy  for  unfair  competition  and 
restraint  of  trade  would  be  afforded  in  part,  at  least,  by  the  sup- 
plementary constructive  legislation  already  indicated.  Specific 
statutes  would  have  to  be  greatly  multiplied  and,  by  technical 
manoeuvring,  could  be  easily  evaded.  The  government  should 
regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  passed  calling  for 
publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations,  through  a 
commission  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose.  We  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  are  admitted,  but  they  do  not  justify  large-scale  produc- 
tion if  it  stifles  free  competition,  as  it  has  been  shown  to  do. 


366 

Silas  Evans,  President,  Ripon  College,  Ripon,  Wis. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable, 
and  should  be  repealed.  I  am  emphatically  of  opinion  that  it 
is  not  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in  business. 
Kailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of 
the  Sherman  Act,  but  not  from  any  other  act  which  takes  its 
place.  Farmers,  trade  unions  and  manufacturers  should  be  on 
the  same  basis.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  prefer  national  incorporation 
for  companies  doing  an  interstate  business;  also  a  commission 
of  strong  authority  and  responsibility  to  regulate  the  combines 
within  the  terms  of  the  incorporation.  I  think  that  in  many 
cases  the  holding  company  may  make  for  efficiency  and  economy. 
However,  there  should  be  regulation  against  abuse.  I  am  decid- 
edly of  opinion  that  the  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion, and  it  is  imperative  that  publicity  should  be  applied  to 
commercial  corporations.  I  believe  all  the  advantages  claimed 
for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  are  as  stated.  In  regard 
to  the  alleged  evils  charged  against  large  combinations,  I  think 
it  improper  to  make  quantitative  qualification  of  moral  or  eco^ 
nomic  evils.  This  has  already  confused  popular  thought  or 
prejudice. 

The  election  uncertainties,  the  tariff  in  politics,  ill-defined 
trust  provisions,  militarism  and  general  extravagance  are  re- 
sponsible for  disturbed  business  conditions. 

C.  H.  Spooner,  President  Norwich  University,  Northfield, 
Vermont. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  com- 
merce. I  favor  laws  that  will  prevent  one  compamr  from  hold- 
ing stock  in  another  company,  although  it  seems  difficult  to 
draw  a  law  whose  intent  would  not  be  easily  evaded.  The  gov- 
ernment should  regulate  capitalization.  I  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  enjoyed  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  car- 
riers. In  regard  to  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  they  include  econo- 
mies in  production,  economies  in  distribution,  greater  use  of  by- 
products, more  command  of  international  trade  and  command 
of  the  best  ability.  It  may  be  questioned  whether  those  advan- 
tages also  include  steadier  employment  of  labor  and  at  better 
wages,  or  better  protection  against  industrial  accidents,  unless 
enforced  by  legislation  or  by  an  enlightened  public  sentiment. 

E.  W.  Kemmerer,  Economist,  Professor,  Cornell  University, 
Ithaca,  N.  Y. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  principally  to  the 
necessary  checking  of  corporate  abuses.  It  is  the  price  that  must 


367 

be  paid  by  all  for  the  "  public-be-damned "  policy  of  certain 
large  interests  of  a  few  years  ago.  The  fact  that  the  cost  of 
living  seems  destined  to  continue  its  upward  movement  for  some 
time  to  come  (under  the  stimulus  of  large  gold  production) 
is  liable  to  make  the  public  more  exacting,  instead  of  less  exact- 
ing, as  time  goes  on.  I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
Law.  The  work  of  twenty-one  years  should  not  be  undone.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  provide  for  the  establish- 
ment of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  and  the  requirement 
of  greater  publicity  in  public  affairs. 

Albert  Charles  Muhse,  Special  Economic  Expert,  Bureau  of 
Corporations,  Washington,  D.  C. 

I  prefer  a  national  incorporation  act  for  companies  engaged 
in  interstate  commerce.  The  creation  of  a  national  industrial 
commission  with  broad  powers  of  regulation  and  control  would 
enable  the  government  to  deal  more  effectively  with  the  indus- 
trial situation.  As  to  holding  companies,  the  holding  company 
serves  very  beneficial  economic  functions  and,  if  properly  regu- 
lated, need  not  be  considered  a  menace  to  society.  I  prefer  the 
Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  for  dealing  with  unfair  competition 
and  restraint  of  trade.  In  time  it  will  become  a  more  work- 
able instrument,  because  of  flexibility,  than  specific  legislation 
or  laws.  I  favor  laws  providing  for  government  regulation  of 
capitalization,  if  such  laws  are  carefully  drawn  and  do  not 
attempt  to  restrict  all  speculative  or  risk  enterprises.  I  most 
decidedly  favor  laws  that  call  for  publicity  to  be  applied  to 
commercial  corporations  through  a  commission  to  be  appointed 
for  that  purpose,  with  methods  akin  to  those  now  used  in  regu- 
lating common  carriers  and  their  rates  through  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission. 

Regarding  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  it  should  be  stated  that  better  wages  does  not 
always  mean  more  wages  for  a  given  amount  of  work.  In  large- 
scale  business  the  relation  between  machine  and  employee  can 
be  so  regulated  as  to  produce  a  maximum  of  effort  in  a  given 
time  at  really  a  minimum  of  labor  cost. 

Advantages  in  addition  to  those  enumerated  are,  greater  uni- 
formity of  product,  standardization  of  output,  greater  financial 
security,  greater  power  to  obtain  advantages  from  or  over  pro- 
ducer of  raw  materials,  of  transportation,  of  distributors  or  other 
outside  factors.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with 
powers  already  indicated. 

Edward  D.  Page,  Merchant,  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Statis- 
tical Society,  member  of  other  economic  and  socio- 
logical bodies,  New  York. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  to  permit  large 
aggregations  of  capital  under  single  control,  and  for  the  merger 
from  time  to  time  of  smaller  corporations,  or  to  permit  agree- 


368 

ments  which  regulate  production,  prices  and  the  like  under  suit- 
able public  control.  It  would  be  pernicious  if  it  attempted  to 
fix  prices. 

In  addition  to  other  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale  may  be  added  more  effective  appeal  to 
investors  controlling  free  capital  for  investment  and  better  pro- 
tection to  the  income  of  such  capital;  also  wider  market  and 
greater  stability  of  liquidating  values  for  capital  invested  therein. 
I  prefer  a  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  interstate 
business.  The  capital  stock  of  any  corporation  receiving  a 
national  charter  should  be  exempted  from  taxation  by  the 
States. 

I  believe  holding  companies  to  be  beneficial  in  a  vast  ma- 
jority of  instances;  to  make  them  illegal  is  to  create  an  arti- 
ficial crime  which  will  not  be  supported  by  the  moral  sense  of 
the  community  and  ought  not,  therefore,  to  be  attempted.  Over- 
capitalization can  be  rooted  out  by  legislation  which  will  wipe 
the  dollar  mark  off  the  stock  certificate,  as  it  has  already  been 
wiped  out  of  the  minds  of  all  intelligent  men  who  deal  therein. 
Then  the  motives  and  reasons  for  overcapitalization  will  be  done 
away  with. 

Carroll  W.  Doten,  Professor  of  Economics,  Massachusetts 
Institute  of  Technology,  Boston,  Mass. 

All  the  distinctive  advantages  of  large-scale  business  can  be 
obtained  without  monopoly.  Monopoly  of  interstate  business 
would  be  impossible  in  most  lines  of  stockholding  by  one  cor- 
poration in  another  and  if  leases  were  prohibited. 

I  favor  Federal  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  business.  I  do  not  believe  that  additional  legislation 
is  necessary  at  present  to  supplement  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust 
Act.  It  maj  be  necessary  some  time  to  undertake  to  fix  prices, 
but  this  should  be  a  last  resort.  The  holding  companies  should 
be  done  away  with  if  possible.  Mergers  through  leases  should 
also  be  prohibited.  If  these  measures  were  adopted,  it  would 
not  prevent  mergers,  but  would  make  it  impossible  to  affect 
them,  except  through  an  out-and-out  purchase  of  the  plant.  This 
would  greatly  lessen  the  evils  of  the  present  system. 

Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  are  practices  com- 
mon to  both  competitive  and  monopolized  business.  I  don't  see 
how  they  can  be  reached  directly,  except  through  absolute  con- 
trol of  prices. 

Control  of  capitalization  is  not  necessary,  unless  the  govern- 
ment should  undertake  to  fix  prices.  Responsibility  of  promot- 
ers and  directors  should  be  clearly  defined  and  enforced.  The 
English  law  is  worthy  of  study  in  this  connection. 

If  the  holding  corporations  were  eliminated  and  all  holding 
of  stock  of  one  corporation  by  another,  and  combinations  through 
leases  were  absolutely  prohibited,  this  evil — the  inadequate  pro- 


369 

lection  of  minority  stockholders  and  the  exploitation  of  invest- 
ors— would  largely  disappear. 

In  regard  to  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on 
a  large  scale,  a  distinction  should  be  made  between  the  econo- 
mies of  large-scale  business  and  monopoly. 

Monopoly  has  some  advantages  that  are  not  found  in  large- 
scale  business  under  competitive  conditions.  In  the  absence  of 
rebates  and  discrimination  in  transportation  rates,  economies  of 
distribution  are  largely  due  to  monopoly  and  not  to  large-scale 
production.  It  has  not  been  proven  that  large  business  provides 
steadier  employment  of  labor  and  at  better  wages,  nor  is  the 
claim  that  business  on  a  large  scale  provides  better  protection 
against  industrial  accidents  warranted  by  any  reliable  statistics 
now  available. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  but  it  must  not 
be  expected  to  do  too  much  at  the  start.  It  will  have  to  feel 
its  way  and  be  given  increased  power,  as  the  need  and  expe- 
diency of  more  complete  control  are  manifested  through  expe- 
rience. 

William  Watts  Folwell,  Professor  Emeritus  of  Political 
Economy,  University  of  Minnesota,  Minneapolis, 
Minn. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce;  there  will  be  less  opposition  to  the  license  plan.  I 
prefer  conservative  legislation,  as  indicated  by  experience  and 
reasonable  foresight,  for  dealing  with  unfair  competition  and 
restraint  of  trade.  I  would  favor  laws  providing  for  government 
regulation  of  capitalization,  if  drawn  by  level-headed  lawyers, 
not  under  the  pay  or  influence  of  the  trusts. 

All  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a 
large  scale  exist,  and  possibly  others,  but  I  do  not  believe  that 
they  increase  pari  passu  with  the  increase  of  scale  or  beyond 
limits  to  be  determined  by  experience.  It  will  be  found  that 
greater  economy  attends  some  industries  when  the  scale  is  mod- 
erate. Take  from  corporations  the  power  to  exploit,  to  over- 
capitalize and  monopolize,  and  "  scale  "  may  be  left  to  the  opera- 
tion of  economic  forces.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion, with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

Frank  K.  Sanders,  President  of  Washburn  College,  Topeka, 
Kans. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation.  The  Sherman  Law  seems 
to  me  adequate.  I  think  that  holding  companies  afford  a  useful 
method  of  management  in  some  cases.  The  government  should 
regulate  capitalization,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission 
should  be  appointed,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed 
by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common 
carriers. 


370 

Horace  Ellis,  President,  Vincennes  University,  Vincennes, 
Ind. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  too  marked  dis- 
position of  the  present  administration  to  disregard  the  spirit  of 
honest  legislation,  in  order  to  get  votes.  I  am  sure  Theodore 
Roosevelt  would  unravel  this  mystery  which  surrounds  our  com- 
mercial life,  if  the  opportunity  were  his.  I  cannot  express  my 
disappointment  with  the  man  who  pledged  the  people  to  carry 
out  Roosevelt's  policies  and  broke  faith  with  the  people.  The 
Wool  Trust  could  never  have  offered  such  humiliating  insults 
to  the  American  people  with  Theodore  Roosevelt  as  chief  execu- 
tive. I  dislike  to  feel  that  a  president  of  the  republic  could 
forget  his  pledge  so  suddenly  as  has  Mr.  Taft,  but  my  convic- 
tion is  complete  to- the  effect  that  our  equilibrium  cannot  be  re- 
stored by  him.  If  given  half  a  chance,  the  people  will  recall 
Roosevelt  to  the  presidency. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  thoroughly  clear  and  workable. 
I  desire  to  see  its  provisions  enforced  firmly,  normally  even,  as 
its  honest  author  designed  it  to  be.  It  is  by  no  means  feasible 
to  return  to  old  business  methods — as  well  to  return  to  the  old 
agricultural  implements.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended, 
as  actual  and  honest  testing  may  show  its  weaknesses.  Just  as 
any  other  beneficent  legislative  enactment  may  occasionally  need 
overhauling,  so  here.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

No  student  of  our  country's  glorious  history  can  be  unmind- 
ful of  the  vast  beneficial  results  which  have  accrued  to  the 
nation  at  large  from  these  combinations  of  capital.  No  one 
would  wish  their  unqualified  overthrow,  but  no  one  who  loves 
democracy  can  quiet  himself  into  the  belief  that  these  same  com- 
binations have  too  often  disregarded  other  than  selfish  interests. 
Labor  is  as  much  a  national  asset  as  is  capital.  My  own  feeling 
is  that  a  million  happy  homes  everywhere  throughout  the  land, 
as  a  wise  result  of  profit-sharing  plans,  would  mean  much  more 
to  our  country  than  all  the  libraries  any  magnate  may  build. 
While  these  combinations  are  operating,  it  should  be  a  funda- 
mental consideration  to  live  and  let  live. 

Byron  C.  Mathews,  Teacher  of  Economics,  East  Orange, 
N.J. 

I  doubt  very  much  whether  laborers  fare  better  under  large 
aggregations  of  capital.  I  have  very  little  hope  that  great  ag- 
gregations of  capital  will  ever  be  controlled  in  the  interests  of 
the  general  public  while  ownership  is  left  in  the  hands  of  private 
individuals.  I  favor  national  incorporation.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization,  and  capitalization  above  actual 
values  of  real  property  should  be  forbidden.  I  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  as  a  step  in  the  transition  from  public 
to  private  ownership. 


371 

Vanderveer  Custis,  Assistant  Professor  of  Economics,  Uni- 
versity of  Washington,  Seattle,  Wash. 

Do  you  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission?  I  cannot 
at  present  think  of  any  better  method  of  regulation  than 
through  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Some  sort  of  regula- 
tion is  essential  if  the  organization  of  industry  is  to  be  per- 
mitted. 

My  present  position  is  somewhat  tentative.  What  I  say 
is  subject  to  this  qualification.  Organization  is  the  outcome 
of  industrial  evolution  and  has  great  possibilities  for  efficiency. 
As  it  necessarily  puts  much  power  in  few  hands,  it  requires 
wise  regulation.  The  first  thing  is  to  recognize  that  an  organ- 
ized industry  (not  simply  the  trust)  is  a  "  public  calling  "  and 
subject  to  the  rule  of  adequate  facilities,  reasonable  charges 
and  no  discrimination.  This  requires  extensive  regulation  on 
sound,  economic  principles.  Such  regulation  may  extend  to  all 
with  whom  a  corporation  deals.  It  should  extend  to  a  regula- 
tion of  the  corporation  itself,  affecting  the  relation  of  security 
holders.  Quite  apart  from  this  the  evils  of  high  finance  are  a 
part  of  the  corporation  problem — not  merely  the  trust  problem 
— and  they  are  serious.  My  understanding  of  the  present  law 
is  that  real,  substantial  restraint  is  forbidden;  but  that  the 
rule  of  reason  is  to  be  applied  in  determining  whether  or  not 
there  is  real  restraint.  There  are  probably  some  real  restraint* 
that  should  be  permitted  and  regulated. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  I  am  not  ready  to  commit  myself  finally  on 
the  question  as  to  holding  companies,  but  it  now  seems  that 
there  may  be  proper  uses  for  the  holding  company,  though, 
as  a  rule,  it  is  probably  better  to  have  one  company  definitely 
responsible.  In  any  case,  real,  substantial  regulation  is  needed. 

It  might'  be  well  to  have  statutes  defining  better  "  reason- 
able restraint,"  but  the  general  principle  is  to  enforce  the 
obligations  of  a  "public  calling." 

James  A.  B.  Scherer,  President  Throop  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute, Pasadena,  Cal. 

You  are  dealing  with  the  most  important  single  question  of 
government  before  the  American  people  to-day. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business,  and  also  most  decidedly  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  or  supplemented 
by  explicit  additional  statutes.  The  government  should  regu- 
late capitalization.  I  am  emphatically  in  favor  of  laws  to  pro- 
vide for  publicity  for  commercial  corporations  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce.  One  of  the  evils  in  connection  with  large  com- 
binations— that  must  be  combated  and  counteracted — is  corrupt 
influence  in  the  State  and  national  legislatures. 


372 

E.  G.  Nourse,  Professor  of  Economics,  University  of  South 
Dakota,  Vermilion,  S.  D. 

It  seems  that  a  large  measure  of  publicity  and  definite 
restrictions  in  the  matter  of  capitalization  should  first  be  secured 
as  a  part  of  any  movement  to  bring  large  combinations  within 
proper  regulation.  Abuses  which  still  persisted,  such  as  unfair 
methods  of  competition,  should  be  the  subject  of  investigation 
by  a  commission,  and  their  recommendations  should  be  the 
source  of  legislative  information,  as  well  as  mandatory  on  the 
corporations  in  the  matter  of  busines  methods.  They  should 
under  no  circumstances  be  given  price-fixing  powers. 

Admitting  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  I  believe  that  the  claim  of  steadier  employment 
of  labor  and  at  better  wages  and  the  claim  of  better  protection 
against  industrial  accidents  are  potential,  rather  than  actual,  in 
many  cases.  I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed. 
Kailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  and  combinations  of  farmers  should  be  permitted.  Trade 
unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Act. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to 
the  unequal  incidence  of  the  tariff;  to  a  faulty  monetary  and 
credit  system,  and  to  a  lack  of  regulation  of  large  business  units. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization  and  provide  pub- 
licity for  commercial  corporations. 

Royal  Meeker,  Teacher,  Princeton,  N.  J. 

It  really  makes  no  difference  whether  corporations  doing  an 
interstate  business  are  dealt  with  under  national  incorporation 
or  by  Federal  license.  As  to  the  alleged  unconstitutionality  of 
Federal  license  or  incorporation,  that  is  nonsense.  The  present 
law  requiring  air  brakes  and  automatic  couplers  is  a  much 
more  drastic  "  interference "  with  the  inalienable,  indefeasible 
"  right "  to  engage  in  interstate  trade.  The  "  national  right  " 
to  trade  is  not  an  unregulatable  "right"  any  more  than  any 
other  "right." 

The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  should  be  more  clearly  defined, 
so  as  to  make  its  interpretation  less  difficult  and  problematical. 
If  regulated  by  commission,  holding  companies  might  be 
allowed.  I  favor  laws  providing  for  government  regulation  of 
capitalization,  although  overcapitalization  only  indirectly  affects 
commodity  prices.  Such  laws  would  exist  to  protect  investors 
primarily.  I  most  emphatically  favor  laws  that  call  for  publicity 
as  applied  to  commercial  corporations,  through  a  commission 
to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose,  methods  akin  to  those  now 
used  in  regulating  common  carriers  and  their  rates  through  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  think  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  imperative. 


373 

Charles     A.     Blanchard,     President     Wheaton     College, 
Wheaton,  111. 

I  suppose  there  is  no  way  of  preventing  able,  unscrupulous 
and  powerful  men  from  doing  wrong.  In  the  reign  of  the  com- 
mon people,  which  is  now  coming  on  the  earth,  we  shall  have  the 
human,  selfish  imperfections  of  the  many  set  against  the  human, 
selfish  imperfections  of  the  few.  The  eiforts  of  the  many,  while 
they  are  confined  to  legal  proceedings,  are  necessarily  slow,  and 
while  the  legal  profession,  as  at  present,  holds  itself  ready  to 
justify  any  iniquity  and  to  seek  the  destruction  of  any  law, 
provided  it  is  paid  sufficiently  for  it,  remedies  will  be  slow  to 
operate  at  best. 

I  suppose  that  the  overgrown  fortunes  -of  our  time  have 
almost  without  exception  been  accumulated  in  violation  both  of 
human  and  divine  law.  Everyone  who  has  thought  at  all,  how- 
ever, knows  how  difficult  or  impossible  it  will  be  to  secure  a 
unanimous  opinion  in  regard  to  this  matter  so  long  as  men  who 
are  paid  to  talk  and  to  devise  means  for  avoiding  rather  than 
complying  with  laws  exist  in  such  numbers  as  they  do  at  present. 
I  do  not  profess  to  have  a  settled  judgment  as  to  what  should 
be  done  regarding  better  enactments.  I  think  they  will  be 
thoroughly  valueless  as  long  as  powerful  men  wish  to  transgress 
them,  and  able  lawyers  are  willing  to  be  hired  to  show  them 
how. 

I  think  the  number  of  bankers  who  have  been  imprisoned 
during  the  last  few  years  is  very  encouraging.  If  they  could 
now  imprison  all  judges  and  lawyers  who  seek  to  break  down 
rather  than  enforce  law,  I  should  have  considerable  hope,  but  I 
imagine  that  this  will  be  one  of  the  last  things  which  we  see 
done.  Still  when  one  considers  what  has  already  been  accom- 
plished, one  ought  not  to  despair  even  of  this. 

So  far  as  I  understand  the  Sherman  Law,  it  is  very  simple 
and  plain.  Corporations  have  been  working  for  a  stay  of  pro- 
ceedings and  now  that  this  seems  impossible  are  working  for  a 
change  in  the  law,  after  which,  if  the  new  law  did  not  please 
them,  they  would  set  their  lawyers  to  work  to  delay  the  trial 
again. 

I  think  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on 
a  large  scale  are  actual,  except  the  claims  of  steadier  employ- 
ment and  at  better  wages  and  better  protection  against  indus- 
trial accidents.  I  think  corporations  have,  as  a  rule,  protected 
themselves  against  industrial  accidents,  but  have  not  protected 
their  workmen  or  the  families  of  their  workmen.  I  do  not  be- 
lieve that  the  greater  corporations  have  shown  a  disposition  to 
give  laboring  men  steadier  employment  at  better  wages  than 
smaller  competing  corporations  have.  The  great  corporations 
seem  to  me  to  be  competing  with  the  people,  while  the  smaller 
corporations  compete  with  one  another. 

I  favor  national  incorporation,  but  not  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 


374 

D.  A.  Tompkins,  Chairman,  The  D.  A.  Tompkins  Com- 
pany, Engineers  and  Contractors,  Charlotte,  N.  C. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  all  right  as  far  as  it  goes.  When  the 
people  who  are  in  big  businesses  are  brought  to  the  same  stand- 
ards of  right  and  wrong  as  those  in  little  businesses,  there  will 
be  no  difference  in  the  matter  of  competition  and  no  difference 
in  standards  between  little  and  big  businesses.  Big  businesses, 
including  railway  transportation,  should  be  put  under  the  same 
examination,  control  and  regulation  as  the  national  banks.  If 
the  railroads  are  put  under  regulation  and  control,  like  the 
national  banks,  then  there  is  no  objection  to  their  making  agree- 
ments that  produce  economic  results. 

For  the  promotion  of  general  good  and  for  economic  results 
that  don't  infringe  upon  other  people's  rights,  a  trade  union 
should  be  free.  They  should  not  be  free  to  violate  law  and  do 
wrong  to  others.  Associations  of  farmers  to  work  out  general 
principles  for  the  benefit  of  farmers  would  naturally  be  lawful 
under  the  Sherman  Act  if  properly  organized  for  the  general 
good.  Combinations  of  farmers  to  lower  or  raise  prices  against 
the  interest  of  other  people  would  naturally  come  under  an 
amended  Sherman  Act  and  be  prohibited. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  A  good  general  Fed- 
eral law,  examining,  controlling  and  regulating  railroads  on 
the  basis  of  a  fixed  investment,  like  the  national  banking  law, 
would,  I  think,  be  sufficient  without  any  special  commission. 
The  control  would  be  exercised  by  the  courts,  as  in  the  case  of 
the  national  banking  law.  Perhaps  an  intervening  commission 
would  be  necessary  to  carry  out  this  law. 

There  are  many  causes  of  business  stability,  among  the  prin- 
cipal ones  of  which  are,  the  need  of  railway  regulation  and 
control;  the  need  of  a  proper  tariff  reform;  the  need  of  mer- 
chant marine  to  carry  American  goods  to  foreign  countries;  the 
need  of  a  banking  system  that  would  give  safe  flexibility  to 
banking  and  commerce. 

W.    W.    Hooper,   Instructor,    University   of   Chattanooga, 
Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  have  a  trial  before 
we  can  tell  which  would  be  the  better — the  Sherman  Law  or 
statutes  expressly  forbidding  specified  practices — for  dealing 
with  unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  applied 
to  commercial  corporations.  I  do  not  admit  the  assertion  that 
some  provision  must  be  made  by  Federal  law  to  secure  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  advantages  now  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale.  Sufficiently  large  aggregations  of  capital  can 
be  secured  under  present  laws,  which  laws  should  not  be  so 
changed  as  to  prevent  the  same,  except  so  far  ,as  to  prevent 
involuntary  mergers. 


375 

Allyn  Abbott  Young,  Professor  of  Economics,  Washington 
University,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Act  as  thoroughly  unscientific  in  prin- 
ciple and  unsatisfactory  in  results.  Statutes  should  deal  with 
specific  acts  of  wrongdoing.  I  favor  Federal  license  for  com- 
panies doing  interstate  business.  Laws  ought  to  be  enacted 
providing  for  government  regulation  of  capitalization  for  rail- 
roads and  other  public  service  corporations,  not  essential  for 
purely  private  corporations.  I  favor  laws  that  call  for  publicity 
as  applied  to  commercial  corporations  for  the  protection  of 
minority  interests.  Investors  can  be  sufficiently  protected  by 
(a.)  uniform  financial  reports,  together  with  (ft)  enforced  publi- 
cation of  pertinent  and  authenticated  facts  about  businesses 
offering  their  securities  for  public  subscription  or  for  "  listing," 
and  (c)  enforcement  of  present  statutes  against  fraud. 

While  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a 
large  scale  may  exist  partially  and  in  varying  combinations  for 
particular  businesses,  there  is  often,  however,  a  limit  to  the 
increase  of  advantage  with  the  increase  in  the  size  of  the  busi- 
ness, and  there  are  in  some  cases  compensating  disadvantages. 

Francis  H.  McLean,  General  Secretary,  National  Associa- 
tion of  Societies  for  Organizing  Charity,  etc.,  New 
York. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  com- 
merce, because  it  still  leaves  in  the  hands  of  the  State  authori- 
ties large  responsibilities.  Any  atrophy  of  local  responsibility 
(State  or  otherwise)  would  be  a  serious  menace  to  our  political 
life.  Localization  of  some  political  functions  is  a  necessity.  I 
am  in  favor  of  laws  preventing  holding  companies.  The  Sher- 
man Anti-Trust  Act  should  be  supplemented  by  statutes  ex- 
pressly forbidding  specified  practices  not  in  harmony  with  just 
and  honest  business  methods. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not 
unlike  those  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in 
relation  to  common  carriers. 

F.  G.  Franklin,  Professor  of  History  and  Political  Science, 
Albany  College,  Albany,  Ore. 

I  concede  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  and  I  also  see  the  associated  evils.  I  prefer 
national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  com- 
merce. I  also  favor  additional  legislation,  providing  the  full- 
est measure  of  government  control  necessary  to  produce  results 
and  fair  prices.  Holding  companies  should  be  supervised  most 
carefully,  the  treatment  of  each  case  being  determined  accord- 
ing to  its  merits.  It  is  hard  to  give  an  absolute  disapproval 
of  holding  companies.  There  seems  to  be  need  of  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 


376 

William    De    W.    Hyde,    President    of    Bowdoin    College, 
Brunswick,  Me. 

I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  as 
clear  and  workable.  I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to 
what  are  commonly  known  as  old  competitive  methods  in  busi- 
ness. Fixed  capital  makes  it  impossible.  I  favor  a  repeal  of 
the  Sherman  Law,  or  very  radical  amendment,  requiring  Fed- 
eral incorporation  as  an  alternative  to  rigorous  enforcement; 
and  a  commission  to  interpret  terms.  Kailroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Combinations  of  farmers, 
either  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices, 
should  not  be  lawful.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
and  a  Federal  license  only  as  second  best,  if  Federal  incor- 
poration should  be  found  impracticable.  The  present  policy 
tends  to  destroy  delicate  machinery  which,  under  proper  regula- 
tion, can  be  made  to  serve  the  people. 

I  favor  laws  preventing  one  company  from  holding  stock  in 
another  company.  All  legitimate  aims  of  holding  companies  can 
be  secured  otherwise.  I  favor  government  regulation  of  capi- 
talization, an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  and  publicity  for 
commercial  corporations. 

Otto  E.  Kriege,  President,  Central  Wesleyan  College,  War- 
renton,  Mo. 

I  am  in  favor  of  Federal  legislation  providing  for  the  con- 
trol of  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  and  also  of 
laws  forbidding  the  raising  of  prices,  except  for  real  causes. 
I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies.  Legislation  prohibiting 
unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  both  gen- 
eral find  specific,  and  we  should  have  sane  courts  to  uphold  the 
constitutionality  of  the  laws  enacted.  I  question  some  of  the 
advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale. 
I  doubt  that  those  advantages  include  better  protection  against 
industrial  accidents  or  command  of  the  best  ability,  and  it 
should  also  be  admitted  that  monopolies  have  not  lowered  the 
prices  of  articles  of  necessity.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

F.    W.    McNair,    President    Michigan    College    of    Mines, 
Houghton,  Mich. 

It  seems  to  me  the  most  promising  method  of  dealing  with 
the  situation  is  through  some  form  of  Federal  trade  commission 
having  rather  large  power  of  control  and  somewhat  wide  lati- 
tude as  to  the  size  and  form  of  corporation  doing  interstate 
business.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  As  between 
national  incorporation  and  Federal  license  I  see  little  choice, 
provided  some  effective  form  of  Federal  control  is  made  a  part 
of  the  scheme. 


377 

William  H.  Schaper,  Professor  of  Political  Science,  Uni- 
versity of  Minnesota,  Minneapolis,  Minn. 

Our  present  business  policy  is  unworthy  of  the  nation.  We 
have  developed  methods  of  doing  business  and  perfected  our 
industries  to  a  point  where  we  can  lay  claim  to  be  in  the  fore- 
front of  the  march  of  nations.  In  matters  of  government  we 
have  stood  still  for  a  century.  The  very  word  "  statesman  "  has 
become  a  term  of  derision.  We  started  in  the  days  of  Jackson 
by  adopting  the  principle  of  frequent  rotation  in  office  to  prevent 
an  official  class  from  arising.  In  fact,  we  have  developed  the 
worst  official  class  of  any  enlightened  nation.  We  call  this  class 
of  men  "  politicians/7  They  do  not  hold  one  office  for  life,  but 
many  offices  in  many  jurisdictions. 

Congress  should  deal  with  companies  doing  interstate  com- 
merce by  passing  a  model  corporation  act,  requiring  companies 
engaging  in  such  commerce  to  incorporate  under  the  law.  We 
shall  never  solve  this  problem  until  the  Constitution  is  amended, 
authorizing  Congress  to  enact  a  uniform  civil  code  for  the  entire 
nation.  We  need  uniform  national  laws  governing  partnerships. 
"  stock  companies  "  or  limited  partnerships,  as  well  as  corpora- 
tions. 

Rev.  John  A.  Ryan,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Ethics  and  Eco- 
nomics, St.  Paul  Seminary,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

All  the  substantial  advantages  of  large-scale  production  can 
be  had  without  permitting  any  corporation  to  become  so  large 
as  to  exercise  monopoly  control  over  any  product.  At  least  the 
contrary  of  this  has  not  yet  been  proved.  Until  such  proof  is 
forthcoming,  we  are  entitled  to  assume  that  competition  is  desir- 
able, not  through  an  indefinite  number  of  small  concerns,  but 
through  a  sufficient  number  to  prevent  monopoly  in  any  product. 
I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  com- 
merce, in  such  terms  as  to  prevent  overcapitalization,  the  control 
of  more  than  35  per  cent,  in  any  product,  the  holding  of  stocks 
in  another  corporation,  etc.  I  favor  laws  to  prevent  holding 
companies,  except  in  the  matter  of  corporations  in  the  field  of 
natural  monopoly,  as  railroads  and  other  public  service  corpora- 
tions. 

D.  C.  Hull,  President,  Millsaps  College,  Jackson,  Miss. 

I  do  not  think  that  the  disturbed  condition  of  business  is 
due  to  any  one  cause,  but  rather  to  a  combination  of  causes. 
The  greed  of  wealth  is,  in  my  judgment,  the  chief  cause.  Added 
to  this  are  the  unreasonable  demands  of  labor  unions  and  legis- 
lative intolerance. 

I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  The  chief 
trouble  with  the  Sherman  Law  has  consisted  in  the  tardiness 
of  judicial  machinery.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


378 

William  F.   Peirce,  President,   Kenyon   College,   Gambier, 
Ohio. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state commerce.  I  favor  laws  that  will  prevent  one  company 
from  holding  stock  in  another  company;  also  laws  directed 
against  practices  in  restraint  of  trade,  which  could  apparently 
be  more  clearly  formulated  and  more  effectively  enforced  than 
a  general  statute.  The  government  should  regulate  capitali- 
zation. 

Business  on  a  large  scale  has  come  to  stay.  The  economic 
saving,  as  summarized  in  the  list  of  advantages  claimed  for  those 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  is  unquestionable.  I  am  not  as 
yet  convinced  that  the  suggested  provisions  in  Federal  law  are 
necessary.  I  doubt  whether  such  laws — providing  for  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  en- 
joyed by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to 
common  carriers — could  be  formulated  and  enforced  without 
economic  injury. 

Clarence  M.  Case,  Professor  of  Economics,  Penn  College, 
Oskaloosa,  Iowa. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state commerce.  I  consider  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  suf- 
ficient for  the  present  to  deal  with  the  exploitation  of  producers 
and  consumers.  My  answer  to  this  question  is  based  on  the 
idea  of  discretionary  power  in  the  hands  of  the  administrative 
and  judicial  officers,  rather  than  try  to  meet  every  possible  con- 
tingency in  advance.  I  do  not  favor  making  certain  acts  un- 
lawful in  a  way  so  specific  as  to  leave  room  for  evasion  or  for 
a  free  hand  on  all  points  not  specifically  forbidden.  I  am  op- 
posed to  holding  companies.  The  government  should  regulate 
capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  enacted  applying  publicity 
to  commercial  corporations  through  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. As  for  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale,  I  doubt  if  wages  are  better. 

H.  J.   Davenport,  Professor   of  Economics,  University  of 
Missouri,  Columbia,  Mo. 

I  favor  additional  legislation  providing  compulsion  of  one 
price  (freight  being  allowed  for)  and  punitive  damages  for  cut- 
throat competition.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion, and  laws  should  be  enacted  providing  for  publicity  to  be 
applied  to  commercial  corporations,  through  a  commission  to  be 
appointed  for  that  purpose.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. I  am  opposed  to  holding  companies.  In  regard  to 
the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale, 
they  all  exist,  but  are  exaggerated.  They  do  not  extend  so  far 
as  to  make  impossible  the  existence  of  competing  big  plants  or 
businesses. 


379 

Edwin  S.  Todd,  Professor  of  Economics,  Miami  University, 
Oxford,  Ohio. 

I  favor  Federal  legislation  for  dealing  with  companies  en- 
gaged in  interstate  commerce.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
repealed,  and  statutes  should  be  enacted,  expressly  forbidding 
specified  practices.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion, and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corpora- 
tions through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose. 
I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

The  sooner  the  Federal  Government  repeals  the  Sherman 
Law  and  frankly  recognizes  the  fact  that  combinations  have 
been  a  natural  growth,  in  spite  of  attendant  evils,  the  better  off 
we  shall  be.  Then  the  Federal  government  should  provide  for 
Federal  control  through  Federal  incorporation  and  commission 
supervision. 

Alfred    T.    Perry,    President,    Marietta    College,    Marietta, 
Ohio. 

Combination  and  even  a  monopoly  may  be  allowed  if  only, 
by  suitable  legislation,  the  rights  of  the  public  may  be  safe- 
guarded. Just  how  to  secure  this  end  is  the  problem  for  states- 
men. I  have  no  specific  suggestions. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
business,  as  conserving  the  power  of  the  States.  I  think  dis- 
crimination should  be  exercised  in  regard  to  holding  companies, 
and  probably  some  additional  legislation  is  needed.  As  to  unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade,  a  general  law  with  "  reason- 
able "  interpretation  would  seem  to  be  better  than  a  multitude 
of  specific  enactments.  The  government  should  regulate  capi- 
talization, and  laws  should  provide  for  publicity  for  commercial 
corporations.  With  my  present  knowledge,  I  am  inclined  to 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  although  not  fully 
assured. 

William  L.  Felter,  Principal,  Girls'  High  School,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y. 

Disturbed  conditions  in  business  are  due,  in  my  judgment, 
to  uncertainty  as  to  the  outcome  of  government  suits  to  dissolve 
certain  corporations  and  to  the  knowledge  that  many  of  the  cor- 
porations have  been  guilty  of  similar  practices  in  restraint  of 
trade  and  hence  are  subject  to  government  suits.  I  prefer 
national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  com- 
merce. I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization  and  should  provide  for  pub- 
licity applied  to  commercial  corporations.  I  would  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  only  in  case  the  Sherman  Law 
should  be  found  inadequate.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as 
clear  and  workable. 


380 

Lewis  H.  Haney,  Professor  of  Economics,  The  University 
of  Texas,  Austin,  Texas. 

Where  the  business  is  a  natural  monopoly  or,  on  account  of 
the  general  necessity  of  the  product,  is  affected  with  the  public 
interest,  regulation  of  capitalization  and  rates  of  charge  is  desir- 
able. Greater  liability  and  more  democratic  control  by  stock- 
holders are  a  crying  need  of  corporate  life.  Eequirements  con- 
cerning publicity  of  promotion  and  of  affairs  of  corporations 
whose  stocks  are  listed  on  exchanges ;  requirements  for  adequate 
reserves  and  accounts  in  general;  dummy  directors,  abuse  of 
proxies,  etc.,  all  need  attention.  Additional  legislation  should 
provide  for  accounting  requirements  and  publicity  in  the  case 
of  natural  monopolies  and  monopolies  in  great  necessaries  of 
life,  and  should  also  provide  for  tariff  modifications.  There 
should  be  statutory  definition  of  reasonable  restraint  of  trade 
(based  on  scientific  investigation).  I  do  not  favor  laws  to  pre- 
vent holding  companies;  but  measures  should  be  adopted  to 
insure  responsibility  in  proportion  to  power.  I  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  and  laws  for  the  protection  of  minority 
stockholders  and  of  investors.  I  believe  that  this  head  embraces 
a  large  number  of  most  serious  evils.  Eeform  incorporation 
laws  and  regulation  of  stock  exchanges  are  most  needed. 

T.    N.    Carver,    Secretary-Treasurer,    American    Economic 
Association,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  To  prevent  the  exploitation  of  producers 
and  consumers  I  favor  additional  legislation,  fixing  prices  by 
public  commission  wherever  monopoly  exists,  or  where  compe- 
tition has  failed  to  regulate  adequately.  I  am  utterly  indiffer- 
ent to  holding  companies.  If  the  public  will  fix  prices,  I  care 
not  how  many  holding  companies  there  are.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization.  The  price  of  shares,  the  valua- 
tion of  such  corporations  should  be  regulated.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those 
now  employed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  rela- 
tion to  common  carriers.  I  also  favor  laws  that  call  for  pub- 
licity and  that  apply  to  commercial  corporations,  through  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  While  I  admit  certain  advan- 
tages claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale — with 
a  query  as  to  how  large — there  are  as  many  corresponding  dis- 
advantages not  named. 

Henry  W.  Elson,  Professor  of  History,  Ohio  University, 
Athens,  Ohio. 

I  favor  such  amendment  of  the  Sherman  Law  as  would 
enable  an  injured  corporation  to  receive  redress  from  an  offend- 
ing corporation,  without  retrial  of  the  case,  when  the  latter 
has  been  convicted  under  the  law — similar  to  that  suggested 
by  Senator  La  Follette. 


381 

Oliver  C.  Lockhart,  Teacher,  Department  of  Economics  and 
Sociology,  Ohio  State  University,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

I  favor  Federal  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce.  To  guard  against  reversals  of  opinion,  it  might 
be  well  to  enact  additional  legislation  defining  unlawful  restraint,, 
somewhat  as  now  interpreted.  Though  often  subserving  a  useful 
purpose,  holding  companies  have  been  much  abused.  The  con- 
trol of  one  company  by  a  minority  or  bare  majority  of  stock  is 
certainly  undesirable.  Restraint  of  trade,  as  illustrated  by  refus- 
ing to  furnish  goods  at  prevalent  trade  rates  to  merchants  who 
buy  anything  from  rival  producers  or  who  refuse  to  maintain 
list  prices,  as  required  by  "  sellers'  agreements  "  and  by  use  of 
patents  to  protect  what  is  not  patented,  should  be  specifically 
forbidden.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and 
publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations  through 
the  Bureau  of  Corporations.  The  advantages  claimed  for  those 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale  are  not  confined  to  large  combi- 
nations. This  applies  especially  to  economies  in  production, 
greater  use  of  by-products  and  better  protection  against  indus- 
trial accidents.  I  am  not  at  present  in  favor  of  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

Charles  Noble  Gregory,  Dean  of  Law  School  and  Professor 
of  Law,  George  Washington  University,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

I  think  no  Federal  regulation  necessary,  if  a  corporation 
merely  does  interstate  business  as  a  buyer  and  not  a  seller,  for 
instance,  or  if  the  interstate  part  of  its  business  is  small  and 
incidental.  Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should 
be  dealt  with  under  the  Sherman  Act.  I  favor  government 
regulation  of  capitalization,  but  am  in  doubt  as  to  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  I  think  we  are  somewhat  afflicted  with 
commissions,  not  always  actuated  by  the  same  sense  of  justice 
felt  by  courts.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  but  not 
obligatory  on  all  companies  doing  an  interstate  business,  only 
those  of  a  certain  character,  and  perhaps  doing  business  of  a 
certain  amount. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to 
absolute  uncertainty  as  to  the  interpretation  and  enforcement 
of  present  laws,  and  apprehension  as  to  enactments,  State  and 
national,  in  the  near  future,  hostile  to  property. 

Charles  Rochelle,  President,  Kansas  State  Society  of  Labor 
and  Industry,  Wichita,  Kan. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce,  also  Federal  license  in  a  limited  sense  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  more  power  than  that 
enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  The  Sher- 
man Law,  in  my  judgment,  is  not  clear  and  workable. 


382 

M.  Wes.  Tubbs,  Secretary-Treasurer,  Wisconsin  State 
Union,  American  Society  of  Equity,  Madison,  Wis. 
(Executive  Board  of  Wisconsin  State  Union,  Amer- 
ican Society  of  Equity — Signed:  Ira  M.  J.  Chryst, 
Hudson,  Wis.;  J.  H.  Carnahan,  Black  River  Falls, 
Wis. ;  D.  O.  Mahoney,  Viroqua,  Wis. ;  A.  H.  Christ- 
man,  Menomonee  Falls,  Wis.;  C.  E.  Hanson,  River 
Falls,  Wis.) 

We  prefer,  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce, 
national  incorporation  with  strict  governmental  supervision. 
We  favor  additional  legislation  to  deal  with  the  exploitation  of 
producers  and  consumers.  We  are  opposed  to  holding  companies. 
We  prefer  legislation  forbidding  specific  practices,  as  illustrated 
by  the  selling  of  goods  in  a  given  locality  where  a  competitor  is 
operating,  at  prices  below  cost  of  production  until  the  local 
competitor  is  ruined;  and  by  the  selling  of  one  variety  of  goods 
at  less  than  cost  for  the  purpose  of  driving  from  the  field  a 
rival  who  produces  chiefly  this  variety.  Also,  by  refusing  to 
furnish  goods  at  prevalent  trade  rates  to  merchants  who  buy 
anything  from  rival  producers,  or  who  refuse  to  maintain  list 
prices,  as  required  by  "sellers'  agreements."  Also,  by  control 
of  sources  of  raw  material,  and  by  use  of  patents  to  protect  what 
is  not  patented.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization 
and  laws  should  be  passed  calling  for  publicity,  and  applying  to 
commercial  corporations,  through  a  commission  to  be  appointed 
for  that  purpose. 

We  recognize  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  when  the  advantages  are  properly  managed. 

The  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is  not  clear  and 
workable.  It  should  be  amended  to  make  it  more  explicit.  Bail- 
roads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  Combinations  of  farmers  to  restrict  produc- 
tion or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices  should  be  lawful  up  to 
the  limit  of  average  cost  of  production,  with  a  reasonable  profit 
added. 

We  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  en- 
joyed by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to 
common  carriers. 

In  our  judgment,  disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused 
by  concentration  of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  manipula- 
tion of  the  country's  finances  by  the  great  banking  interests, 
and  resistance  by  commercial  interests  to  tariff  and  political 
agitation. 

The  Butte  Inter-Mountain,  Butte,  Mont. 

Eegulated  combination  must  supplant  competition.  Large 
operations  are  necessary,  and  competition  as  it  was  once  known 
must  yield  to  progress. 


383 

John  Bigelow,  Publicist,  New  York  City. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  very  far  from  being  clear  and  work- 
able; nearly  as  far  as  Sherman  always  was  from  being  a  states- 
man. I  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  old  com- 
petitive methods,  and  the  quicker  the  better. 

"  Do  you  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  ?  "  I  do.  I 
know  of  no  other  law  ever  enacted  for  our  Federal  government 
that  I  thought  more  absurd  when  enacted,  and  I  still  think 
the  same  of  it. 

"  Do  you  favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law  ? "  As  the 
man  shortened  the  vicious  dog's  tail  by  cutting  it  off  close  be- 
hind his  ears.  There  is  no  amending  a  law  that  defies  com- 
mon sense. 

"  Should  railroads  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  af- 
fecting rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  ? "  If  compelled  to,  but  I 
see  no  need  of  an  Interstate  Commission,  except  to  increase 
the  powers  of  the  central  government,  and  that  would  be  a  bad 
use. 

"  Should  combinations  of  farmers  be  rendered  lawful  ?» " 
Everybody  ought  to  be  at  liberty  to  detain  or  to  sell  his  prop- 
erty when  he  finds  an  acceptable  purchaser.  No  law  to  the 
contrary  can  be  consistent  with  common  sense  or  human  free- 
dom. 

I  would  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  if  it  does  not 
interfere  with  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  States. 

"Do  you  favor  a  Federal  license  law?"  Not  till  I  have 
read  it  can  I  tell,  but  I  mistrust  any  increase  of  the  power 
of  the  central  government,  already  excessive. 

"  Do  you  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  ?"  I  do 
not  approve  of  any  Federal  government  commissions  whatever 
that  interfere  with  trade  or  commerce. 

"  In  your  judgment,  what  caused  or  causes  the  present 
disturbed  business  conditions?"  The  tariff  and  the  nefarious 
derangement  of  all  the  natural  developments  of  industry  and 
commerce,  its  inevitable  consequences. 

We  will  never  have  a  just  government,  nor  be  a  free  people, 
nor  an  honest  people,  until  we  open  every  port  of  the  country 
to  the  commerce  of  every  nation  as  freely  as  the  port  of  New 
York  is  open  to  the  commerce  of  New  Jersey  or  Connecticut. 

William  J.  Wilgus,  Eminent   Civil  Engineer,  New  York 
City. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable  and  a 
return  to  old  competitive  methods  as  feasible.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  neither  repealed  nor  amended.  I  have  arrived 
at  no  decision  regarding  national  incorporation,  Federal  license 
or  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Any  existing  disturbance  in 
business  can  be  traced  to  a  mixture  of  causes. 


384 

W.  G.  Langworthy  Taylor,  Professor  Emeritus  of  Political 
Economy  in  University  of  Nebraska,  Lincoln,  Neb. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce.  It  seems  to  me  that  Federal  incorporation 
might  be  required  of  certain  classes  of  corporations,,  especially 
transportation  enterprises,  railroads,  steamboats,  etc. ;  but  a  gen- 
eral requirement  is  too  sweeping  and  too  much  of  a  concentra- 
tion for  efficiency,  or  for  our  ideas  of  decentralization.  I  believe 
I  favor  laws  to  prevent  holding  companies;  the  complexity 
favored  by  the  holding  company  is  on  the  road  to  fraud.  Unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with  by  stat- 
utes expressly  forbidding  specified  practices.  Careful  European 
legislation  is  of  this  nature.  The  legislature,  through  work  of 
experts,  must  follow  up  all  abuses,  specifically  and  unremittingly. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization.  Over-capital- 
ization is  not  necessarily  fraudulent,  but  is  a  departure  from  that 
simplicity  which  should  mark  all  corporation  dealings.  Capital- 
ization in  excess  of  market  value  is  on  the  road  to  fraud.  1 
believe  that,  in  principle,  incorporation  is  for  production  rather 
than  for  distribution.  I  believe  that  every  officer  of  a  corpora- 
tion and  every  person  de  facto  setting  up  officials  of  straw  should 
be  held  as  a  trustee  independently  of  all  corporate  forms.  Of 
course  a  corporation  may  sometimes  be  liable  for  a  tort,  but 
the  trusteeship  of  a  person  employing  the  corporate  form  should 
be  affected  with  a  criminal  liability  in  personam. 

I  would  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  if  consistent 
with  what  I  have  said  on  the  subject  of  Federal  license  and  in- 
corporation. 

Regarding  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  economies  in  production  and  economies  in 
distribution  are  sometimes  exaggerated.  Steadier  employment 
of  labor,  and  at  better  wages,  is  proved  by  the  statistics  of  the 
steel  trade. 

C.  H.  Rammelkamp,  President,  Illinois  College,  Jackson- 
ville, 111. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce,  as  I  believe  that  legislation  on  that  line  could  be 
more  easily  secured.  I  do  not  favor  additional  legislation  deal- 
ing with  the  exploitation  of  producers  and  consumers.  On  the 
whole,  I  favor  laws  to  prevent  one  company  from  holding  stock 
in  another  company.  I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies, 
unless  we  are  ready  to  move  forward  to  ultimate  socialism;  I 
am  not  ready  for  that.  The  government  should  regulate  capital- 
ization and  laws  should  be  passed  applying  publicity  to  com- 
mercial corporations  through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for 
that  purpose.  I  admit  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 


385 

H.  F.  Stimpson,  Consulting  Engineer,  Singer  Building,  New 
York. 

I  believe  that  the  large  corporation  is  an  economic  develop- 
ment which  cannot  be  stifled. 

I  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law  is  not  an  adequate  remedy. 

I  believe  in  a  determination  of  values  on  the-  basis  of  the 
quantity  and  quality  of  energy  absorbed  by  the  commodity  or 
sold  directly.  A  kilowatt-hour  of  mechanical  energy,  at  pres- 
ent, costs  two  cents;  if  developed  from  a  two-hundred  and 
fifty  dollar  horse,  it  costs  fifteen  cents;  if  developed  from  a 
man  receiving  twenty  cents  per  hour  it  costs  two  dollars  and 
twenty-eight  cents,  etc.,  etc. 

I  believe  in  an  exact  change  of  value  on  such  a  basis  with 
no  margin  of  profit  between  individuals  after  each  has  been 
fully  compensated  for  the  energy  which  he  has  exerted,  taking 
its  quality  into  consideration. 

I  believe  that  the  business  of  transportation  of  persons  and 
packages  should  be  conducted  by  the  government  on  the  same 
basis  as  the  Postal  Service,  i.  e.,  a  uniform  charge  for  a  uni- 
form weight  of  any  class  irrespective  of  distance.  This  would 
eliminate  the  fictitious  values  of  certain  real  estate. 

The  important  point  is  an  accurate  determination  of  value 
together  with  an  equitable  exchange. 

These  opinions  are  based  on  an  experience  as  an  engineer  of 
twenty-five  years  plus  five  years  extensive  study  of  economics. 

Carter  H.  FitzHugh,  President  Lake  Forest  College,  Lake 
Forest,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  or  revised;  it  should 
be  so  plain  that  the  man  of  average  intelligence  may  know  if 
his  business  is  run  in  accordance  with  law.  In  regard  to  trade 
unions,  I  have  just  read  British  experience  with  the  Federated 
Unions  of  Eailway  Servants.  The  unions  must  be  made  to 
incorporate.  As  to  permitting  combinations  of  farmers,  either 
to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  I 
should  say,  theoretically,  yes.  The  cotton  crop  of  the  South 
should  be  so  restricted  as  to  make  it  profitable.  The  land  not 
used  for  this  purpose  can  be  put  to  other  uses.  About  seventy 
per  cent,  of  the  cotton  is  paid  for  outside  of  the  United  States, 
bringing  about  seven  hundred  millions  of  money  to  us.  The 
cultivation  is  better  done  when  prices  are  good. 

Paul  J.  Pierce,  Student  of  Political  Economies,  Iowa  City, 
Iowa. 

The  courts  have  interpreted  the  Sherman  Law  to  mean 
"unreasonable"  restraint  of  trade,  which  is  sufficient;  and  the 
law  should  be  amended  merely  to  add  that  word.  I  favor 
national  incorporation  or  Federal  license.  I  am  decidedly  not 
in  favor  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


386 

Frank  J.  Sprague,  Consulting  Engineer,  and  Vice-President 
American  Institute  of  Electrical  Engineers,  New 
York. 

Fear  of  government  interference,  with  or  without  just  cause ; 
the  personal  ambitions  and  desire  for  self-aggrandisement  of 
political  office-holders  and  office-seekers,  are  disturbing  the  busi- 
ness of  the  country.  The  general  belief  that  politicians  and 
lawyers  and  office-holders  of  chronic  character  are  incapable 
of  judging  of  the  effect  of  political  action  as  bearing  on  the 
delicate  structure  of  business  credit,  and  general  uncertainty 
as  to  the  future,  both  as  to  prosecution  of  large  corporations 
and  changes  in  the  tariff,  are  potent  elements  in  business  dis- 
quietude. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  as  not  to 
be  unnecessarily  destructive  of  legitimate  effort.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act, 
as  they  are  the  worst  trusts  of  all.  As  to  combinations  of 
farmers,  they  should  be  excepted  only  if  industrial  manufac- 
turers are.  What  is  the  difference  whether  one  has  iron  or 
pigs  or  cotton  to  sell?  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
but  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  any 
such  plenitude  of  powers  as  are  claimed  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission. 

James  Ford  Rhodes,  Author  of  "  History  of  the  United 
States  from  the  Compromise  of  1850,"  etc.,  Boston, 
Mass. 

I  favor  Federal  legislation  for  companies  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization, 
and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations 
through  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law 
should  be  amended,  as  indicated  by  former  President  Roosevelt. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  and  com- 
binations of  farmers  to  secure  fair  prices  for  their  products 
should  be  lawful.  • 

Over-trading  caused  the  panic  of  1907,  and  we  are  suffer- 
ing from  the  consequent  depression. 

Franklin  H.  Head,  Manufacturer  &  Banker,  Lawyer  and 
Author,  Chicago,  111. 

The  widespread  feeling  of  uncertainty  as  to  what  the  laws 
and  court  decisions  mean,  and  how  their  meaning  will  be  de- 
cided upon  in  the  future  by  the  courts,  are  leading  causes  of 
present  disturbed  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  to  permit  railroads  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission,  and  farmers  should  be  permitted 
to  combine.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal 
license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


387 

W.  Wilberforce  Smith,  Professor  Economics,  James  Milli- 
kin  University,  Decatur,  111.,  also  former  Head  Master 
of  Berkeley  School,  New  York. 

The  wholesome  effect  upon  United  States  banking  resulting 
from  Federal  interference  by  the  National  Bank  Act,  and  the 
experience  of  Interstate  Commerce  regulation,  which,  as  pro- 
vided in  the  Act  of  1887,  was  ineffective  for  as  long  a  period 
as  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  has  been,  but  which  of  late 
years  has  been  exteremely  useful,  encourages  perseverence ; 
amendments  which  the  proposed  Interstate  Trade  Commission 
may  frame  from  time^to  time  "in  the  light  of  reason"  being 
the  clue  to  just  rules  and  decisions. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce.  As  the  Federal  tax  imposed  upon  bank  notes 
resulted  in  a  standardized  system  of  banks,  and  the  standard 
has  operated  not  to  extinguish  but  to  tone  up  State  and  private 
banking,  the  regulation  of  major  corporations  would  tone  up 
the  practice  of  minor  (intrastate)  business,  corporate  and  pri- 
vate. Corporations  doing  interstate  business  should  be  treated 
as  quasi-public.  I  believe  in  holding  companies,  if  strict  con- 
ditions are  imposed  protecting  minority  stock  interests.  Unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with  by 
statutes  analogous  to  those  securing  publicity  and  non-discrim- 
ination in  railway  rates.  The  government  should  regulate  cap- 
italization, and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  cor- 
porations. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  to  control 
interstate  business. 

H.  R.  De  Bra,  President,  Missouri  Wesleyan  College, 
Cameron,  Mo. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  Under  that  system  the  State  can  best  protect  its 
own  interests,  and  Federal  agencies  should  be  employed  only 
to  protect  the  rights  of  other  commonwealths.  Holding  com- 
panies might  be  all  right  if  strictly  limited  and  requirement 
be  made  for  publicity.  The  government  should  regulate  capital- 
ization, and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corpora- 
tions through  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  A  commission 
could  certainly  find  out  what  limits  are  necessary  to  conserve 
proper  economies  and  the  laws  should  be  flexible  enough  for 
that. 

M.  C.  Burt,  Treasurer  and  Vice-President,  Pennsylvania 
Military  College,  Chester,  Pa. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  of  all  companies  doing  inter- 
state business.  Federal  incorporation  laws  should  require  the 
greatest  possible  publicity.  Companies  that  are  simply  holding 
companies  should  be  prohibited.  The  government  should  regu- 
late capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commer- 
cial corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


388 

Hunt  Engineering  Company,  Contracting  Engineers,  Kan- 
sas City,  Mo. 

The  competitive  system  has  in  the  past  led  to  waste  or  dis- 
sipation of  resources,,  which  is  now  contrary  to  conservation 
policies  of  other  nations.  This  inconsistency  has  eliminated 
original  investors  through  inefficient  methods  and  necessity  for 
pledging  their  assets  in  times  of  stress.  Thus  ultimately  the 
developer  is  eliminated,  and  the  investment  goes  to  the  con- 
sumer through  ruinously  low  prices  or  is  absorbed  in  liquida- 
tion. The  legal  right  to  merge  is  the  natural  remedy  and  the 
logical  course  in  the  evolution  of  business.  The  enactment  of 
a  Federal  license  law  for  corporations  exceeding  a  fixed  capital, 
with  restrictions  as  to  the  percentage  in  one  control  of  any  one 
kind  of  business,  its  assets  and  capital  scrutinized  to  eliminate 
water,  and  the  licensing  by  unbiased  authority  of  advisedly 
located  competition,  well  safeguarded  by  equitable  transportation 
rates,  will  take  care  of  prices.  Labor  and  capital  could  then 
agree  on  division  of  earnings.  Also  conserve  wasted  energies 
for  future  generations.  The  amendment  of  the  Sherman  Act  to 
conform  with  the  licensing  act  should  restore  confidence  between 
the  government  and  capital. 

Samuel  T.  Howe,  Member  State  Tax  Commission,  Topeka, 
Kansas. 

I  am  not  in  favor  of  Federal  incorporation ;  hence,  prefer  the 
Federal  license  remedy.  The  exploitation  of  producers  and  con- 
sumers should  be  prevented  by  proper  legislation.  I  do  not 
believe  in  holding  companies  and  am  in  favor  of  laws  that  will 
prevent  one  company  from  holding  stock  in  another  company. 
Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with 
by  statutes  expressly  forbidding  specified  practices,  with  suit- 
able penalties  for  violation.  The  government  should  regulate 
capitalization  and  should  apply  publicity  to  commercial  corpora- 
tions. 

I  believe  large  business  has  advantages  from  which  benefits 
would  result  to  consumers  if  the  business  were  reasonably  regu- 
lated as  to  income.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission 
for  controlling  large  aggregations  of  capital  engaged  in  inter- 
state trade,  in  the  absence  of  knowledge  of  a  better  agency. 

Ogden  T.  McClurg,  Merchant  and  Publisher,  Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  would  have  to  be  so  vitally  changed,  if 
touched  at  all,  that  it  would  seem  better  to  repeal  it  entirely, 
and,  if  necessary,  pass  a  new  law  on  the  subject.  Uncertainty 
as  to  the  interpretation  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  how  far  it 
would  be  enforced;  uncertainty  on  the  tariff  question;  general 
uncertainty,  have  caused,  in  mv  -judgment,  the  present  dis- 
turbed business  conditions.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


389 

Wm.  W.  Garner,  President  Borough  Park  and  Martense 
Subway  Association,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business,  as  there  is  always  an  opportunity  to  question 
authority  with  a  State  corporation  also  acting  under  Federal 
license.  The  evils  of  over-capitalization  are  imaginary  and  only 
harped  on  by  the  jingoes.  I  believe  every  one  of  the  advantages 
claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  exist  and  are 
for  the  benefit  of  the  producers,  but  the  advantages  to  the 
consumer  are  nil. 

Over-capitalization  to  the  lay  mind  seems,  when  ordinary 
business  affairs  are  being  considered,  of  small  significance.  A 
corporation  starting  out  with  capital  stock  of  any  amount,  with 
shares,  say  $100  each,  when  placed  upon  the  market  will  find 
the  general  investor  placing  his  own  valuation  on  those  shares; 
and  the  general  public  will,  through  ever-present  methods  of 
publicity,  be  dealing  in  the  same  script  at  ten  per  cent,  or 
two  hundred  per  cent,  of  its  fair  value,  as  conditions  warrant. 
"  Water "  will  find  its  own  level.  Laws  on  this  subject  would 
unnecessarily  cumber  the  statute  books. 

J.  G.  White,  Electrical  and  Civil  Engineer,  New  York. 

I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable. 
Amendments  should  make  the  law  so  clear  and  exact  that 
business  men  may  know  just  what  it  means  and  along  what 
lines  they  may  work.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  national  incorporation 
and  Federal  license;  also  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  if 
its  powers  are  clearly  defined  and  such  as  not  to  materially  inter- 
fere with  general  business. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  too  much  muck- 
raking and  stirring  up  of  discontent  by  a  sensational  press, 
and  too  great  desire  on  the  part  of  politicians  to  appeal  to  the 
discontented  element,  even  when  at  the  expense  of  the  country's 
prosperity, 

H.  A.  E.  Chandler,  Professor  of  Economics,  University  of 
Arizona,  Tucson,  Ariz. 

I  favor  by  all  means  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  This 
Interstate  Trade  Commission  should  be  given  .power  to  inquire 
into  the  acts  of  corporations;  to  settle  disputed  questions  with- 
out much  legal  red  tape,  and  to  enforce  its  decisions  until  the 
corporation  has  proved  its  injustice  before  a  court.  The  mem- 
bers of  this  commission  should  be  expert  business  men  of  a  high 
type  and  well  paid. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state commerce.  I  am  opposed  to  holding  companies,  and  favor 
government  regulation  of  capitalization  and  publicity  applied  to 
commercial  corporations. 


890 

Jas.  W.  Cain,  President  and  Professor  of  Economics,  Wash- 
ington College,  Chestertown,  Md. 

The  Sherman  Act,  as  interpreted  by  the  Supreme  Court,  in 
effect  makes  the  consequences  of  the  act,  not  the  act  itself, 
illegal.  No  man  can  intelligently  conduct  business  under  such 
a  condition.  I  think  the  law  should  be  repealed,  and  a  new 
statute  passed  which  will  clearly  state  the  acts  that  are  pro- 
hibited. I  think  we  should  adhere  to  incorporation  under  State 
laws,  but  require  the  corporation  to  take  out  a  Federal  license, 
if  it  engages  in  interstate  commerce.  The  issuance  of  this 
license,  and  the  whole  business  done  under  it,  should  be  under 
the  control  of  a  Federal  Commission.  The  consolidation  of 
smaller  companies  should  be  permitted,  but  only  under  the  con- 
dition of  an  actual  purchase,  at  a  fair  valuation,  of  the  several 
smaller  companies.  This  purchase  may  be  made  by  one  of  the 
competing  companies  buying  the  others  out,  or  by  a  new  com- 
pany actually  buying  out  all  the  old  competing  companies. 

L.  S.  Rowe,  Economist,  Professor  of  Political  Science  in 
University  of  Pennsylvania, 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  I  favor  additional  legislation  dealing 
with  the  exploitation  of  producers  and  consumers — positive,  con- 
structive legislation,  establishing  control  by  a  commission  sim- 
ilar to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Should  the  above 
system  of  control  be  established,  I  would  not  favor  laws  pre- 
venting one  company  from  holding  stock  in  another  company. 
Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with 
by  statutes  forbidding  certain  practices.  The  government  should 
regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  enacted  applying 
publicity  to  commercial  corporations. 

The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  are  undeniable. 

H.  H.  Powers,  Former  Professor  of  Economics  in  Leland 
Stanford  University,  now  President  of  Bureau  of 
Universal  Travel,  Boston,  Mass. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  I  believe  in  holding  companies.  The  big 
corporation  is  both  inevitable  and  potentially  beneficial.  Its 
vices  are  precisely  such  as  law  is  compelled  to  deal  with  every- 
where. Mere  prohibition  is  a  stupid  abuse  of  law.  Publicity  is 
the  one  thing  needful  to  deal  with  over-capitalization.  I  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  without  expecting  too  much. 
I  believe  we  should  be  conservative  in  the  exercise  of  control. 
There  are  few  ways  in  which  we  can  so  easily  sap  the  energies 
of  society,  and  a  very  considerable  degree  of  abuse,  while  await- 
ing the  organization  of  extra  legal  forces,  is  better  than  dis- 
couragement and  frustration. 


Charles     Whiting     Baker,     Editor-in-Chief,     Engineering 
News,  220  Broadway,  New  York. 

METHOD  or  HANDLING  THE  PRESENT  TRUST  SITUATION. 

1.  National  incorporation.    A  Federal  license  for  a  State 
corporation  would  open  the  door  for  conflict  over  jurisdiction 
of  State  and  National  authority  and  jurisdiction  of  States  other 
than  that  in  which  the  company  had  its  charter. 

But  not  all  companies  doing  interstate  business  should  be 
required  to  have  a  federal  charter.  Only  those  which  have  be- 
come really  national  concerns,  such  as  the  great  railway  and 
industrial  corporations  and  the  insurance  companies  should  be 
placed  under  Federal  jurisdiction  at  first.  If  and  when  the 
need  develops,  other  State  corporations  can  be  placed  under 
Federal  control. 

2.  Not  at  the  present  time.     It  may   develop,   however, 
that  the  Supreme  Court's  interpretation  of  the  law  in  the  Stand- 
ard Oil  and  American  Tobacco  cases  leaves  too  indefinite  a 
line  between  legal  and  illegal  contracts.  If  so,  some  amend- 
ment may  become  necessary  to  make  more  explicit  what  re- 
straint of  competition   should  be  regarded   as   incidental   and 
therefore  legal. 

3.  The  holding  of  stock  by  one    corporation    in    another 
should  be  so  restricted  as  to  do  away  with  holding  companies 
whose  purpose  is  the  reduction  of  competition  or  the  swelling 
of  capitalization.     A  sweeping  restriction  against  all  holding 
of  stock  by  one  company  in  another  would  work  injury  as  well 
as  benefit. 

4-5.  Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be 
dealt  with  by  special  statutes. 

6.  Yes. 

7.  Yes. 

Advantages  of  Large  Scale  Business. — All  the  advantages 
enumerated  may  and  often  do  exist;  but  they  may  all  be  neu- 
tralized by  difficulties  in  securing  efficient  organization.  There 
are  still  many  lines  of  business  where  the  alert  and  experi- 
enced owner  doing  business  on  a  moderate  scale  can  success- 
fully compete  with  the  large  combination,  provided  the  latter 
is  not  permitted  to  crush  him  by  taking  advantage  of  its  mere 
size,  selling  below  cost  for  a  limited  time  in  limited  territory 
or  other  unfair  methods  of  competition. 

I  believe  a  fair  experiment  should  be  made  of  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  Sherman  Lawr,,  and  the  re-establishment  of  com- 
petition in  manufacturing  and  commerce  by  this  means,  and 
by  the  prohibition  of  unfair  competition  by  special  statute. 

Not  until  this  experiment  has  been  tried  and  failed  should 
we  adopt  the  other  course  of  accepting  monopolies  in  trade  as 
inevitable  and  applying  to  them  the  same  laws  and  methods  of 
enforcement  which  are  now  recognized  to  be  necessary  for  deal- 
ing with  the  natural  monopolies  in  transportation. 


392 

If  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  were  established,  there- 
fore, it  should  stand  in  a  different  position  from  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission,  and  should  endeavor  if  possible  to  secure 
reorganization  of  industry  on  such  lines  as  will  make  detailed 
government  control  unnecessary. 

E.   O.  Eshelby,  Publisher,  "  Cincinnati  Commercial  Trib- 
une," Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should 
be  dealt  with  under  the  .Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be 
applied  to  commercial  corporations  through  a  commission  to  be 
appointed  for  that  purpose.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

I  believe  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  to  be  clear 
and  workable.  I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competi- 
tive methods  in  business.  I  do  not  favor  either  repeal  or  amend- 
ment of  the  Sherman  Law.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regu- 
lation of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions 
should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act, 
and  combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production  or  to 
hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  rendered  lawful. 
I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  a  Federal  license  law  and, 
as  already  stated,  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

H.  E.  Newbranch,  Editor,  "The  World-Herald,"  Omaha, 
Neb. 

Federal  control — akin  to  control  of  public  highways — of 
corporations  not  quasi-public  in  their  nature  tends  to  the  elimi- 
nation of  individualism  and  the  competitive  system  and  the 
establishment  of  the  socialistic  principle.  I  can  see  no  tenable 
middle  ground  between  competitive  private  ownership  and  con- 
trol, limited  and  enforced  only  to  the  extent  necessary  to  protect 
the  public,  and  State  ownership. 

The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  exist,  except,  perhaps,  as  to  better  wages  and  steadier  em- 
ployment, but  the  benefits  are  absorbed  by  the  corporations, 
which  do  not  allow  the  public  its  rightful  share  in  them.  I 
favor  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  com- 
merce so  as  not  to  supplant  State  control.  I  also  favor  honest 
enforcement  of  existing  State  laws  and  making  State  laws  more 
uniform. 

Horace  J.    Stevens,   Editor  and  Publisher,   "  The   Copper 
Hand  Book,"  Houghton,  Mich. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  As  to  trade  unions 
and  combinations  of  farmers,  there  should  be  no  class  excep- 
tions to  any  law,  but  the  act,  as  I  have  said,  should  be  repealed. 


E.    W.    Rankin,    Manager,   "  Farmers'    Mail   and   Breeze " 
(agricultural  paper),  Topeka,   Kan. 

The  question  of  Federal  incorporation  is  a  perplexing  one. 
A  growing  number  fear  that  Federal  incorporation  or  a  Federal 
license  would  mean  control  of  the  government  by  corporations 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce  to  a  greater  degree  than  at 
present — I  do  not  know  how  to  answer  the  question.  As  to 
additional  legislation  dealing  with  the  exploitation  of  producers 
and  consumers,  I  believe  in  price  control — not  a  new  thing  in 
economic  history.  I  have  not  come  to  any  definite  conclusion 
as  to  laws  preventing  holding  companies.  The  recent  Supreme 
Court  decision  appears  to  have  made  statutes  expressly  forbid- 
ding specified  practices  the  desirable  course  for  dealing  with 
unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  I  favor  government 
regulation  of  capitalization,  and  I  regard  the  proposed  enact- 
ment of  laws  calling  for  publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial 
corporations  as  an  excellent  suggestion.  I  am  inclined  to  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those 
enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to 
common  carriers. 

"  Big  business  "  means  "  powerful  "  business ;  that  is,  power 
to  be  used  for  the  people  or  against  the  people.  It  is  practically 
certain  that  unrestrained  great  power  will  be  used  against  the 
people's  interest  and  is  being  so  used.  Trusts,  so  called,  as  often 
oppose  down-to-date  methods  as  approve  them. 

With  regard  to  the  "  advantages  "  claimed  for  those  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale,  a  monopoly  in  control  of  a  branch  of 
business  does  not  have  to  employ  these  advantages  in  order  to 
make  a  profit,  and  often  does  not  employ  them.  The  Chicago 
packers,  for  example,  buy  animals  from  the  Dakotas,  and  sell 
back  to  the  Dakotas  the  finished  product.  Prior  to  this  the  same 
animals  may  have  been  raised  in  Missouri  and  sold  as  stockers 
to  Chicago,  then  to  western  South  Dakota  on  the  range,  then 
to  eastern  South  Dakota  to  be  finished.  All  this  more  than 
offsets  the  disadvantages  of  the  old,  so-called  "  wasteful "  meth- 
ods. The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  more 
specific,  and  to  use  the  undoubted  but  seldom  used  power  of 
Congress  to  prevent  the  Supreme  Court  from  nullifying  it.  I 
am  not  sure  as  to  whether  railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regu- 
lation of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions 
should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act. 

In  my  judgment,  the  causes  of  the  present  disturbed  busi- 
ness conditions  are  various — crops  under  average;  increasing 
number  of  non-producers;  middlemen;  political  apprehension; 
too  high  prices ;  growing  inequality  in  the  distribution  of  wealth 
— these  may  all  be  regarded  as  causes  of  existing  unsatisfactory 
conditions.  What  we  need  is  more  democracy,  the  making  of 
laws  from  the  point  of  view  of  all  the  people  and  not  of  special 


304 

classes  of  the  people.  For  instance,  the  lumber  people  should 
not  dictate  lumber  tariffs,  nor  the  bankers  dictate  all  banking 
laws. 

J.  D.  Crary,  Managing  Director,  "New  York  Lumber  Trade 
Journal,"  New  York  City. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  too  much  legis- 
lative meddling  with  business  and  too  much  centralization  of 
government.  We  have  got  to  get  back  to  the  old-fashioned 
democracy,  which,  in  my  judgment,  as  a  short  interpretation, 
means  the  least  possible  government. 

The  great  trouble  with  us  all,  both  so  far  as  national  affairs 
as  well  as  private  affairs  is  concerned,  is  that  we  are  trying 
to  cure  everything  by  legislation.  We  are  trying  to  lift  ourselves 
up  by  our  boot  straps.  The  sooner  we  stop  looking  to  Wash- 
ington to  cure  all  our  ills  and  let  things  work  themselves  out 
in  their  own  way,  as  they  unquestionably  will  if  let  alone,  the 
better.  This  government  is  getting  to  be  more  inquisitive  and 
more  paternal  than  Russia  or  any  other  that  I  know  of.  I  am 
opposed  to  paternalism.  I  am  opposed  to  so  much  centraliza- 
tion. I  am  opposed  to  so  much  of  the  legal  point  of  view.  What 
we  want  is  a  little  more  common  sense  and  a  mighty  less  num- 
ber of  laws. 

In  addition  to  the  evils  charged  against  the  large  combina- 
tions we  have  also  the  prosecution  being  conducted  by  Mr. 
Wickersham  against  the  lumber  trade,  which  is  distinctly  dif- 
ferent from  any  hitherto  brought.  All  that  the  lumber  trade 
does  is  to  take  what  I  consider  a  reasonable  position  that  a 
wholesaler  should  not  load  up  a  retailer  with  lumber  and  then 
sell  the  retailer's  customers,  too,  and  to  that  end  report  all 
wholesalers  who  may  be  selling  or  quoting  consumers;  but  this 
carries  with  it  no  obligation  on  the  part  of  the  members.  The 
information  is  simply  given  them  as  information,  they  to  act 
upon  it  in  any  way  they  see  fit. 

William  L.  West,  Publisher,  West  Publishing  Company,  St. 
Paul,  Minn. 

The  causes  of  present  disturbed  business  conditions  cannot 
be  described  briefly.  In  my  opinion  no  one  cause  is  solely 
responsible  for  present  conditions.  Extravagant  personal  ex- 
penditures; smaller  crops  than  the  average;  attacks  on  cor- 
porations and  the  consequent  distrust  arising;  a  tariff  which 
hampers  foreign  trade,  and  the  speculative  temperament  of  the 
American  people,  which  leads  them  into  periodical  excesses, 
have  all  contributed  to  bring  about  present  conditions.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  If  it  remains  on  the  statute 
books,  it  should  be  made  to  apply  to  farmers,  labor  unions 
and  everybody  alike.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission. 


395 

G.    D.    Raine,    Editor,    "  The    News- Scimitar,"    Memphis, 
Tenn. 

The  larger  attention  now  given  to  sociology  or  the  science 
of  distribution  is  only  the  matter  of  a  greater  equipment  of 
the  people;  of  larger  responsibilities,  and  hence  larger  opportu- 
nities for  thought  and  development,  which  are  the  end  of  all 
holdings  or  management  of  property,  which  last  is  only  the 
means.  By  way  of  illustration:  If,  for  instance,  Mr.  Rocke- 
feller's income  is  $15,000,000  a  year,  the  real  significance  is 
that  he  is  paid  wages  of  $15,000,000  a  year  to  administer  most 
efficiently  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  oil  industry  and  holdings. 
The  final  question,  through  all  these  arguments  and  laws,  is  to 
determine  whether  the  work  can  be  gotten  done  properly,  and 
it  must  be  done  properly,  on  less  than  $15,000,000  wage  paid 

the  chief  of  that  or  such  an  industry. 
*  *  * 

Along  with  the  Oregon  case  before  the  Supreme  Court,  to 
try  whether  or  not  a  State  can  enact  and  enforce  direct  legisla- 
tion, a  case  from  Minnesota  is  before  that  court  which  involves 
a  fundamental  question  in  the  matter  of  charges  by  quasi-public 
corporations. 

The  Minnesota  authorities  fixed  a  rate  for  the  railroads,  and 
the  Federal  Circuit  Court  vetoed  it  on  the  ground  that  the  rate 
would  not  pay  7  per  cent,  on  the  present  value  of  the  road. 
The  contention  of  the  State  of  Minnesota  is  that  not  the  present 
value,  made  by  increased  value  of  terminals,  enhanced  by  the 
increase  in  numbers  and  energy  of  all  the  people,  but  the  actual 
cost  to  the  railroads,  the  amount  of  money  actually  invested  by 
the  owners,  or  at  some  point  between,  the  cost  and  the  present 
value,  should  be  the  capital  basis  for  fixing  the  fair  earning  rate. 
This  Minnesota  case  gets  down  to  the  root  of  the  question  of 
watered  securities,  the  solution  of  which  is  of  prime  considera- 
tion in  connection  with  prices  and  charges  by  these  corpora- 
tions. 

Is  not  this  Minnesota  case,  or  its  contentions,  a  forerunner 
and  to  pave  the  way  gradually  for  the  effect  of  direct  legisla- 
tion when  the  latter  is  more  fully  developed  throughout  the 
country  ? 

H.  J.  D.  Stewart,  Editor   "  Censor,"  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

The  control  of  commodities  and  money  by  a  gang  of  con- 
scienceless pirates  in  Wall  Street  is  chiefly  responsible  for  dis- 
turbed business  conditions.  Our  banking  system  is  also  at  fault. 
Blow  up  the  iniquitous  tariff  wall.  Make  every  product  con- 
trolled by  a  monopoly  absolutely  free!  Or  else  make  it  a 
criminal  offence  to  maintain  or  hold  stock  in  any  monopoly, 
save  possibly  one  arising  from  a  patent.  The  weakness  of  our 
system  is  in  our  courts.  We  probably  do  not  need  new  laws  as 
much  as  we  need  properly  qualified  men  on  the  bench. 


H.    S.    Kneedler,    Editor,   "  The    Eldora    Ledger,"    Eldora, 
Iowa. 

I  believe  it  inevitable  that  under  present  economic  condi- 
tions aggregations  of  capital  operating  under  the  specious  plea 
of  reduced  cost  will  continue  to  become  larger  and  more  ag- 
gressive; but  that  the  basis  of  real  national  prosperity  can  only 
be  secured  by  promoting  and  distributing  to  all  the  opportuni- 
ties for  reasonable  success.  The  trusts  make  this  impracticable. 

The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  are  achieved  at  the  expense  of  the  small  dealer  and  the 
ambitious  artisan  who  might  become  independent  if  he  had  op- 
portunity, while  the  few  realize  an  enormous  profit. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce;  I  believe  in  holding  companies  so  far  as 
they  avoid  trust  evils;  and  I  favor  government  regulation  of 
capitalization.  Further,  I  favor  laws,  such  as  I  understand 
Canada  has,  for  the  protection  of  minor  stockholders.  Publicity 
is  not  adequate.  I  approve  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 
with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

Robert  C.   Rissler,  Editor  and  Publisher,  "The  Farmers' 
Advocate,"  Charlestown,  W.  Va. 

The  States  ought  to  supervise  the  incorporation  of  compa- 
nies doing  business  within  their  limits  or  outside  of  those  limits. 
I  favor  an  amendment  of  the  Sherman  Law,  such  as  will  nullify 
the  "  rule  of  reason  "  delivered  by  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court.  I  can  discern  no  advantage  in  holding  companies,  so 
far  as  the  plain  people,  are  concerned,  that  will  offset  their 
manifest  abuses.  Statutes  should  be  enacted  forbidding  all  prac- 
tices in  restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should  regulate 
capitalization.  Laws  that  call  for  publicity  should  be  applied 
to  commercial  corporations  through  a  commission  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission, with  powers  not  unlike  those  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

Overproduction  and  the  high  prices  demanded  by  the  trusts 
are  the  chief  causes  of  business  disturbance.  Advantages 
claimed  for  combinations  do  exist;  but  all,  or  nearly  all,  inure 
to  the  benefit  of  those  owning  them. 

R.  W.  Storrs,  Editor,  "The  Breeze,"  DeFuniak  Springs, 
Fla. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with 
powers  not  unlike  those  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers.  I  deny  that  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale  secures  steadier  employment  of  labor 
and  at  better  wages,  or  better  protection  against  industrial  acci- 
dents. 


397 

Stuart  H.  Perry,  Publisher,  "  The  Adrian  Daily  Telegram  " 
(Independent),  Adrian,  Mich. 

In  addition  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  may  be  added  more  uniformity  and  stand- 
ardization in  products.  Also  an  advantage  to  the  public  and 
to  the  consumer  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  chances  of  adul- 
teration, inferior  workmanship  and  other  frauds  grow  less  as 
the  size  of  the  business  increases.  This  is  due  partly  to  the 
fact  that  the  danger  from  detection  is  greater,  partly  to  the  fact 
that  there  is  more  elaborate  supervision,  also  to  the  fact  that 
the  temptation  to  fraud  is  less  to  an  individual  who  has  only 
a  small  interest  in  the  output  than  it  is  to  one  who  has  a  larger 
interest,  and  to  the  fact  that  while  ability  and  greater  responsi- 
bility generally  carry  with  them  a  higher  moral  standard. 

I  do  not  relish  the  Interstate  Trade  Commission  idea  in 
itself,  but  fear  some  such  plan  is  imperative  to  appease  the 
demands  of  radicals  on  one  hand,  and  to  give  legitimate  indus- 
try some  kind  of  guarantee  of  immunity  on  the  other.  The 
penalty  statute,  such  as  the  Sherman  Law,  especially  when  its 
scope  is  not  absolutely  defined,  is  a  disturbing  factor  and  always 
will  remain  so.  Any  kind  of  a  body  that  could  give  some  sort 
of  an  0.  K.  to  a  legitimate  enterprise  would  have  a  steadying 
influence.  Otherwise  we  shall  have  an  endless  series  of  prosecu- 
tions and  constant  clamor  for  more  prosecutions  and  more  legis- 
lation, with  resulting  uncertainty  in  business. 

C.  Meurer,  Editor,  "  Arkansas  Echo,"  Little  Rock,  Ark. 

Competition  in  itself  has  run  its  course  and  demonstrated 
that  it  is  pernicious.  Do  the  workmen  want  free  competition 
in  the  labor  market?  Do  the  business  men  want  it?  Every- 
where you  see  organization  rising  to  exclude  free  competition. 
Free  competition  is  war  of  one  against  all,  and  every  man  is 
but  one  in  a  wholly  competitive  struggle.  We  need  combina- 
tion, but  combination  founded  on  honest  methods,  and  not  on 
huge  volumes  of  watered  stocks,  on  which  the  public  are  asked 
to  pay  dividends.  Watered  stock,  without  basis  of  real  value, 
is  virtually  another  form  of  counterfeit  money,  and  the  person 
who  issues  it  should  be  punished  as  a  counterfeiter.  Honest 
organization  is  necessary  to  modern  business,  but  it  must  be 
made  and  kept  honest. 

Edwin  C.  Powell,  Editor,  "  Farm  and  Home,"  Springfield, 
Mass. 

I  prefer  Federal  incorporation  for  new  companies  and  license 
for  those  that  are  now  in  business.  I  favor  additional  legisla- 
tion making  it  easier  to  deal  with  the  exploitation  of  producers 
and  consumers,  and  also  providing  for  stringent  regulation.  I 
favor  laws  providing  for  government  regulation  of  capitaliza- 
tion, but  am  not  at  present  prepared  to  answer  favorably  the 
question  regarding  an  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 


398 

Clarence  A.  Jones,  Editor,  "  Minnesota  Farm  Review," 
State  Experiment  Farm,  St.  Anthony  Park,  St.  Paul, 
Minn. 

The  trusts  have  come  to  stay.  They  are  necessary  to  mod- 
ern commercialism.  They  should  be  regulated  by  the  people 
through  the  government,  for,  after  all.  no  country,  no  govern- 
ment, no  monopoly,  no  enterprise  is  greater  than  the  combina- 
tion of  people. 

In  regard  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  I  don't  believe  that  large  business  is  conducive 
to  better  wages.  I  think  it  is  vice  versa.  Economies  in  produc- 
tion, economies  in  distribution  and  the  greater  use  of  by-prod- 
ucts inure  to  the  benefit  of  the  magnates,  not  to  the  benefit  of 
the  consumer.  I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce,  and  don't  believe  that  exploita- 
tion of  producers  and  consumers  can  be  remedied  by  legislation. 
I  believe  that  the  producer  and  consumer  must  "get  together." 
Government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be 
passed  providing  for  publicity  for  commercial  corporations, 
through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose.  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

A.  Ray  Mapel,  City  Editor,  "  The  Democrat,"  Waynesburg, 
Pa. 

Capital,  with  malice  aforethought,  seeking  to  scare  and  force 
people  away  from  badly  needed  reform;  awakening  to  the  fact 
that  unwarranted  extension  of  credit  has  led  the  nation,  indi- 
vidually and  collectively,  to  habits  of  extravagance;  and  the 
shifting  of  too  many  producers  to  consumers'  side  of  account 
—that  is,  farmers  going  to  the  city — are  among  the  causes  of 
present  disturbed  conditions  in  business. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  to  apply  to  specific  cases 
as  much  as  possible.  It  is  too  easily  evaded  in  technicalities. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should 
be  passed  providing  for  publicity  for  commercial  corporations 
through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose.  I  favor 
an_  Interstate  Trade  Commission  as  a  step  in  the  right  direc- 
tion, and  also  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce. 

F.  A.  Miller,  "  South  Bend  Tribune,"  South  Bend,  Ind. 

I  prefer  Federal  legislation  for  control  of  companies  engaged 
in  interstate  commerce.  I  am  opposed  to  holding  companies 
and  favor  laws  providing  for  government  regulation  of  capitali- 
zation and  for  applying  publicity  to  commercial  corporations 
through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose.  I  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those 
now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation 
to  common  carriers. 


399 

J.  A.  McKinley,  Editor,  "Long  Valley  Advocate,"  Rose- 
berry,   Idaho. 

The  great  consideration  is  a  higher  standard  of  morals  in 
business ;  a  higher  standard  of  farming  methods  has  been  pretty 
generally  brought  about  in  the  last  quarter  century  through 
—largely — the  work  of  State  and  Federal  government  agricul- 
tural colleges,  experimental  stations,  bulletins,  farm  institute 
work;  and  from  the  results  so  far,  the  promise  is  very  large. 
Simple  and  absolute  honesty  in  practice  is  the  great  remedy 
that  will  cure  every  evil  of  the  corporation  system.  A  dozen 
men  who  are  honest  as  individuals  form  a  corporation — and 
the  latter  is  dishonest.  I  believe  there  should  be  a  department 
of  business  morals — or  policy — and  a  thorough  campaign  of 
work  to  build  up  higher  standards,  beginning  in  the  primary 
schools.  The  world  is  far  enough  along,  where  it  should  be 
able  to  conceive  right  is  right  because  it  is  right,  not  because  it 
means  salvation  hereafter. 

It  would  be  a  step  backward  to  deny  the  advantages  claimed 
for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale.  The  fair  distribu- 
tion of  their  results  is  the  only  difficulty,  and  it  seems  possible 
to  accomplish  this. 

Why  not  vote  national  incorporation  and  Federal  license 
to  meet  all  conditions?  As  to  additional  legislation,  the  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission,  with  possibly  more  stringent  legisla- 
tion requiring  reports  and  examinations — perhaps  along  the  line 
of  bank  examinations — at  regular  or  irregular  intervals,  would 
probably  answer  the  desired  ends.  The  holding  company  might 
be  a  useful  and  economical  trade  machine,  but  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization,  as  overcapitalization  is  unneces- 
sary, except  for  dishonest  purposes.  I  favor  laws  calling  for 
publicity  applied  to  commercial  corporations. 

Howard  N.  Whitney,  Managing  Editor,  "  Iowa  State  Reg- 
ister and  Farmer,"  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  is  very  faulty,  and  any  effort 
to  correct  it  is  to  be  commended.  It  requires  study  and  a  fami- 
liarity with  all  conditions  to  work  out  the  right  sort  of  a  law. 
I  prefer  a  natidnal  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  either  be  amended 
so  that  it  shall  be  clear,  definite  and  fair,  or  repealed;  to  be 
followed  by  the  enactment  of  a  law  which  will  recognize  the 
necessity  for  combinations,  but  prevent  the  evils  sometimes  con- 
nected with  them. 

I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies.  I  see  no  reason  why 
men  should  be  prohibited  from  being  stockholders  in  several 
companies,  but  cliques  should  be  prevented  in  some  way  from 
gaining  control  of  companies  which  would  amount  to  a  holding 
company.  I  favor  government  control  of  capitalization. 


400 

William    Garrott    Brown,    Journalist,    Author,    Lecturer, 
Librarian,  Asheville,  N.  C. 

I  am  not  fully  decided  as  to  Federal  legislation  dealing  with 
companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  am  not  in  favor 
of  legislation  additional  to  the  Sherman  Act  until  after  a  full 
study  of  the  effect  of  enforcing  the  act  as  it  stands.  I  do  not 
think  we  have  a  complete  programme,  and  we  should  go  slow  till 
we  resolve  on  one.  I  doubt  if  we  can  eliminate  the  holding- 
company  principle.  In  regard  to  advantages  claimed  for  those 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  I  believe  that,  as  a  rule,  there 
are  some  decided  advantages  and  some  disadvantages;  but  there 
are,  I  think,  cases  in  which  independents  have  the  better  of  it, 
catering  to  special  demands  more  successfully  by  reason  of 
facility  in  innovations  and  close  personal  oversight  of  the  man- 
ager or  owner  and  his  closer  relations  to  employees.  As  to  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission,  I  think  it  likely  we  will  have  to 
come  to  it,  but  I  am  not  yet  ready  for  final  commitment.  Why 
cannot  we  first  have  experiments  by  State  commissions? 

To  alleged  evils  of  great  combinations  enumerated  on  the 
first  page  of  the  "  questionnaire,"  I  would  add,  deliberate  chang- 
ing and  lowering  of  the  quality  of  a  product  of  an  independent 
concern  when  it  is  bought  by  a  combination  which  retains  the 
old  trademark. 

I  am  answering  these  queries  instead  of  Col.  George  Harvey, 
who  referred  them  to  me  as  an  editorial  writer  to  "  Harper's 
Weekly/'  possibly  not  noticing  the  real  character  of  the  docu- 
ment. 

Arthur    H.    Crist,    Newspaper    and    Magazine    Publisher, 
Coopers  town,  N.  Y. 

There  is  a  strong  and  growing  desire  for  successful  private 
business  enterprises  of  moderate  size  to  incorporate.  But  the 
present  laws  bear  heavily  on  such  enterprises.  Too  much  is 
required  in  the  way  of  statements  and  details  of  the  business. 
Such  burdens  and  such  prying  into  affairs  of  small  business 
concerns  should  scarcely  be  needed.  Then,  too,  the  corporation 
taxes  weigh  heavily  on  small  companies.  The  reason  for  this 
is  that  such  taxes  are  a  pure  and  complete  addition  to  the  local 
taxes.  Why  not  have  two  distinct  kinds  of  incorporated  com- 
panies? Make  one  form  of  incorporation  simple  and  inex- 
pensive for  the  small  business  man.  I  would  like  to  see  uniform 
laws  for  all  the  States,  but  would  also  like  to  see  needless 
restriction  done  away  with.  Laws  should  be  passed  that  would 
ensure  a  really  competitive  market  for  both  producer  and  con- 
sumer. I  decidedly  favor  laws  providing  for  government  regu- 
lation of  capitalization;  also  for  laws  applying  publicity  to  ~big 
corporations ;  but  there  ought  to  be  a  distinction  in  favor  of  the 
small  corporations  that  are  formed  for  the  purpose  only  of  giving 
stability  and  perpetuity  to  private  business  enterprises. 


401 

E.  B.  Kellogg,  Editor  and  Publisher,  "  Chariton  Courier," 
Keytesville,  Mo. 

It  occurs  to  us  that  a  commission  with  sufficient  power  to 
properly  regulate  the  commercial  interests  of  our  country,  and 
the  establishment  of  the  National  Eeserve  Association  as  pro- 
posed by  Senator  Aldrich,  or  approximating  his  idea,  would 
put  the  finishing  touch  on  centralization  and  propagate  social- 
ism. There  certainly  must  be  a  more  direct  and  effectual  way 
for  escape  from  the  trouble  we  feel  is  ahead  of  us.  As  to  the 
advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale, 
the  "  greater  use  of  by-products  "  and  "  more  command  of  inter- 
national trade  "  may  be  conditionally  true ;  the  other  claims  can- 
not be  relied  on.  Enormous  salaries,  wages,  red-tape  expense, 
etc.,  tend  to  establish  a  very  reasonable  doubt  o'f  either  or  all 
of  the  claims. 

As  to  Federal  legislation  in  connection  with  companies  doing 
interstate  business,  I  favor  anything  which  does  not  further 
encroach  on  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  States.  In  regard 
to  laws  for  the  protection  of  minority  stockholders  and  of 
subsidiary  interests,  my  reply  is  that,  as  a  general  rule,  control 
by  a  commission  is  a  failure,  if  the  commissioners  are  appointed ; 
but  laws  which  would  require  publicity  to  be  enforced  by  public 
officers  elected  by  vote  of  the  people  would  doubtless  have  good 
results. 

John  Thompson,  Editor,  "  Farmer  and  Breeder,"  Sioux  City, 
Iowa. 

I  believe  that  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  are  real.  I  further  believe  that  these  big 
companies  furnish  one  of  the  best  object  lessons  for  the  farmers 
and  the  public  in  general  of  the  importance  of  co-operative  effort. 
If  our  farmers  would  co-operate  with  each  other  as  capital  has 
learned  to  co-operate,  a  tremendous  saving  of  labor  and  money 
would  result. 

I  favor  Federal  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce.  With  companies  doing  business  under  a  Fed- 
eral incorporation  act  under  proper  supervision  by  the  govern- 
ment I  can  see  no  objection  to  holding  companies.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

Henry  Holt,  Publisher,  New  York. 

Business  disturbance  is  due,  in  my  judgment,  to  the  expecta- 
tion of  tariff  changes,  more  than  the  newspapers  permit  to  be 
realized.  I  want  them  though,  to  "have  it  over  with."  The 
Sherman  Law  is  not  yet  clear  and  workable,  but  there  is  prog- 
ress. I  hardly  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  old 
competitive  methods.  I  favor  statutes  against  specific  abuses. 
Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 


402 

C.    Lombardi,   Vice-President   Dallas    &    Galveston   News 
Corporation,  Dallas,  Tex. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce,  provided  a  charter  or  license  specifies  dis- 
tinctly what  a  corporation  is  permitted  to  do  or  forbidden  to  do ; 
in  other  words,  the  conditions  under  which  they  may  do  business. 
I  believe  the  Sherman  Act  has  proved  a  failure  and  should  be 
repealed.  A  strong  commission  and  the  common  law  should  take 
care  of  this  problem.  There  is  nothing  good  or  bad  in  the  hold- 
ing companies  per  se.  It  depends  on  how  they  are  used.  They 
should  be  authorized  with  proper  limit  and  control.  I  prefer 
statutes  forbidding  specified  practices  for  dealing  with  unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  The  national  Bank  Law 
is  a  fairly  good  guide  and  precedent  for  other  corporations.  I 
favor  laws  providing  for  publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial 
corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  and,  if 
the  Commission  is  properly  organized  and  wisely  manned, 
either  methods,  (a)  or  (b),  or  both,  may  be  permitted,  accord- 
ing to  circumstances — the  first  permitting  large  aggregations 
of  capital  under  single  control,  and  the  merger  from  time  to 
time  of  smaller  corporations,  and  the  second  permitting  agree- 
ments which  regulate  production,  prices  and  the  like  under  suit- 
able public  control. 

Wesley  A.  Maynard,  Editor,  "  Somerville  Reporter,"  West 
Somerville,  Mass. 

In  regard  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  I  regard  steadier  employment  of  labor — • 
and  at  better  wages — not  substantiated  by  present  statistics  of 
the  unemployed.  There  should  be  more  effective  protection 
against  industrial  accidents.  International  trade  may  be  pro- 
moted by  more  conscientious  manufacture.  Some  means  should 
be  found  to  make  the  "  best  ability  "  redound  more  to  the  profit 
of  its  possessors,  as  in  the  case  of  many  inventors. 

The  rules  of  the  United  States  Patent  Office  are  especially 
in  need  of  reform.  At  present  an  inventor  who  is  impecunious 
is  at  the  mercy  of  any  wealthy  individual,  or  corporation,  to 
whom  his  invention  is  of  value.  This  fact  has  been  often 
demonstrated. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  While  not  believing  in  "paternalism,"  I  think 
that  to  leave  the  matter  to  the  States  would  result  in  complexi- 
ties inimical  to  the  interests  of  the  people  as  a  whole. 

C.  V.  Gregory,  Editor  "  Prairie  Farmer,"  Chicago,  111. 

We  need  constructive  legislation.  "  Trust  busting,"  as  prac- 
ticed by  the  present  administration,  helps  nobody.  Federal  in- 
corporation, Federal  control  of  stock  and  bond  issues,  and  per- 
haps Federal  control  of  prices,  are  some  of  the  things  that  are 
badlv  needed. 


403 

Jean  P.  Decker,  Editor  and  Publisher  "  The  Pioneer,"  Big 
Timber,  Mont. 

I  prefer  Federal  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce,  but,  if  possible,  also  Federal  license.  I 
favor  additional  legislation  to  deal  with  the  exploitation  of  pro- 
ducers and  consumers  by  making  the  law  so  explicit  as  to 
effectively  curb  monopolies,  and  also  by  wise  tariff  revision. 
I  am  most  assuredly  opposed  to  holding  companies.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization,  and  capitalization  should 
represent  actual,  intrinsic,  if  not  physical  value.  Publicity 
should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations. 

I  don't  agree  with  the  proposition  that  provision  must  be 
made  by  Federal  law  to  permit  large  aggregations  of  capital 
under  single  control,  and  for  the  merger  from  time  to  time  of 
smaller  corporations,  or  to  permit  agreements  which  regulate 
production,  prices  and  the  like.  Neither  is  necessary  and,  if 
permitted,  the  entire  scheme  of  competition  must  fail  and  the 
country  will  have  embraced  socialism  in  its  extremes,  as  advo- 
cated by  barroom  philosophers  and  dreamers. 

John    W.    Stahl,    Farmer,    and    Editor    of    "The    Illinois 
Farmer,"  Chicago,  111. 

We  cannot  possibly  go  back  to  the  doing  of  things  in  a  small 
way.  It  would  be  extravagant  to  do  so,  if  we  could.  The 
problem  presented  by  the  big  corporation  is  not  so  much  of  pro- 
duction as  of  the  just  and  more  equable  distribution  of  the 
(greater)  wealth  produced.  In  the  end  we  will  do  big  business 
in  big  ways  and  we  will  have  enough  competition  to  temper 
combination  and  enough  combination  to  restrain  competition. 

I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  unless  it  is 
replaced  by  a  better  law.  It  should  be  made  definite,  precise, 
positive,  plain,  but  just  what  should  be  added  to  secure  this  is 
too  hard  a  problem  for  the  writer  or  any  other  ordinary  person. 
I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers  not  unlike 
those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in 
relation  to  common  carriers. 

G.  C.  Mclntosh,  Newspaper  Editor,  Fayetteville,  W.  Va. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  provide  that  no 
article  of  commerce  or  manufacture  should  be  put  on  the  market 
at  a  less  rate  of  net  profit  than  from  six  to  ten  per  cent.  Bail- 
roads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
and  combinations  of  farmers  to  secure  fair  prices  for  their  prod- 
ucts should  be  permitted. 

In  my  judgment,  the  cause  of  disturbed  business  conditions 
is  a  changed  relation  between  the  people  and  their  government, 
brought  on  by  the  business  tactics  of  the  big  corporations. 
Should  they  deal  honestly  with  the  people,  business,  both  big  and 
little,,  would  be  more  prosperous. 


404 

W.  D.  Crews,  Farmer,  also  Editor  and  Proprietor,  "  The 
Union  Farmer,"  Murphysboro,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  amended  so  as  to  provide, 
among  other  provisions  in  favor  of  the  people,  that  it  shall  be 
lawful  for  farmers,  by  and  through  their  organization,  to  con- 
trol distribution  and  marketing  of  their  own  products,  while 
those  products  remain  the  property  of  the  producers.  This  to 
be  done  in  part  by  the  restriction  of  production  when  necessary. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from 
the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  under  proper  governmental 
regulation. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers  not  unlike  those 
now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  rela- 
tion to  common  carriers. 

In  my  judgment,  the  present  disturbed  business  conditions 
are  caused  fundamentally  by  the  evolution  of  the  human  race 
from  old  and  inadequate  conditions  to  better  and  more  progres- 
sive conditions.  Incidentally,  too  much  selfishness  and  dollar- 
chasing.  Also  a  lack  of  sufficient  progressive  spirit  on  the  part 
of  the  masses  to  keep  up  with  the  classes. 

A  tadpole  has  to  change  its  tail  for  legs  to  become  a  frog. 
The  butterfly  must  work  its  way  out  of  the  cocoon.  A  child 
must  experience  the  pain  and  inconvenience  of  teething  in  order 
to  develop  a  digestive  apparatus  sufficient  for  the  needs  of  an 
adult.  Human  progress  is  somewhat  slow  and  disagreeable, 
partly  because  we  are  not  wise  enough  to  lightly  adjust  our- 
selves to  the  great  strides  of  progress  from  a  competitive  to  a 
co-operative  system  of  business. 

J.  A.  Phillips,  Publisher   (weekly  newspaper),  Greenville, 
Tex. 

I  regard  Federal  legislation  as  desirable  for  dealing  with 
companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  Additional  legis- 
lation is  necessary,  defining  "unreasonable"  restraint  of  trade 
and  providing  a  heavy  penalty,  also  expressly  forbidding  unfair 
competition.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization  and 
publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations  through 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

A.  G.  Johnson,  Editor  "  Svenska  Folkets  Tidning,"  Minne- 
apolis, Minn. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies 
and  favor  legislation  that  will  prevent  one  company  from  hold- 
ing stock  in  another  company.  The  government  should  regulate 
capitalization  and  should  provide  for  publicity  for  commercial 
corporations,  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 


405 

Edward  K.  Titus,  Editor,  "Gazette  and  Courier,"  Green- 
field, Mass. 

I  do  not  think  that  corporations  can  be  satisfactorily  regu- 
lated by  lawsuits  after  things  have  happened.  I  believe  the 
Sherman  Law,  as  interpreted  by  the  Supreme  Court,  is  good 
as  far  as  it  goes.  I  believe  some  government  tribunal  must  be 
created  to  exercise  much  greater  power  over  corporations,  par- 
ticularly as  respects  capitalization,  and  probably  eventually  as, 
respects  prices  where  monopoly  exists.  I  think  favorably  of  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  of  a  Federal  license  law,  and  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike 
those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in 
relation  to  common  carriers. 

It  seems  to  me  that  much  of  our  troubles  arise  out  of  the 
essential  selfishness  of  human  nature.  In  all  business  dealings 
where  a  party  has  a  monopoly,  or  something  approaching  a 
monopoly,  there  is  a  tendency  to  charge  a  price  for  the  service 
rendered  that  is  essentially  unfair.  If  the  hotels  at  the  London 
coronation  charged  $10  a  day  when  $5  was  a  fair  price  for 
service  rendered,  public  sentiment  condemns  them  as  unfair. 
Similarly,  even  if  prices  fall  as  a  result  of  trust  control,  the 
price  may  be  unfair  for  service  rendered.  Our  capitalists,  or 
many  of  them,  entertain  the  conception  that  it  is  nobody's  busi- 
ness what  price  they  charge,  provided  they  can  get  it.  This 
false  conception  creates  a  great  public  unrest,  with  threat  of 
hostile  legislation,  wise  and  unwise,  which  naturally  creates  dis- 
turbance in  the  business  world. 

E.   S.   Drury,   Publisher,  Encampment,   Wyoming. 

Co-operation  in  business  is  essential  to  progress,  as  natural 
evolution.  Eventually  government  ownership  of  public  service 
utilities,  and  government  regulation  of  other  large  business, 
must  obtain  before  settled  conditions  will  again  be  realized.  I 
favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  under  present  condi- 
tions, subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor 
national  incorporation;  and  I  think  that  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission  would  probably  help.  Abuses  by  protected  monop- 
olies, and  a  revolt  of  the  abused  and  a  determination  to  stop 
abuses,  both  political  and  commercial,  have  led  to  disturbed 
business  conditions. 

W.  H.  DeRosier,  "  The  Herald,"  Hudson  Falls,  N.  Y. 

Fictitious  values  placed  upon  necessities  by  capitalists  in 
control  and  the  fact  that  middlemen  handle  our  entire  product 
are  disturbing  elements  in  business.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sher- 
man Law  should  be  repealed  in  part.  Trade  unions  and  com- 
binations of  farmers  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of 
the  Sherman  Act. 


406 

Hughes  &  Wolcott,  "  The  Index,"  a  weekly  newspaper, 
Dover,  Del. 

We  do  not  think  the  Sherman  Act  sufficiently  broad  to  cover 
present  conditions.  Certainly  the  present  practice  of  the  De- 
partment of  Justice  in  dissolving,  or  rather  pretending  to  dis- 
solve companies  is  ineffective.  We  see  no  benefit  to  consumers 
and  much  injury  to  business.  We  would  help  consumers  by 
reduction  of  tariff  duties  on  trust-made  articles,  and  we  would, 
if  necessary,  have  a  commission  to  fix  prices. 

So  far  as  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale  are  concerned,  observation  in  Delaware  does  not 
convince  us  that  there  is  steadier  employment  of  labor  or  better 
wages.  When  the  Steel  Trust  took  over  the  mills  at  New  Castle 
they  shut  them  down,  throwing  thousands  of  men  out  of  em- 
ployment and  ruining  the  town.  We  favor  Federal  license  by 
all  means,  in  preference  to  national  incorporation,  for  companies 
doing  an  interstate  business.  We  also  favor  amendment  of  the 
Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  to  abolish  the  Supreme  Court's  "  rules 
of  reason,"  and  making  imprisonment  of  offenders  compulsory, 
not  optional.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization, 
as  a  part  of  the  Federal  license  system.  I  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  with  power  to  fix  maximum  and  minimum 
prices. 

P.  S.  Rose,  Editor,  "  The  American  Thresherman,"  Madi- 
son, Wis. 

An  increase  in  supply  of  gold ;  advanced  standards  of  living ; 
increase  of  the  world's  population;  education  of  the  masses, 
creating  new  desires  and  intolerance  for  evils  heretofore  not 
realized — all  contribute  to  the  unrest  that  prevails  in  business. 
The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable  and  should  be 
amended.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Additional  legislation  is  neces- 
sary, covering  many  phases  of  the  exploitation  of  producers  arid 
consumers.  With  proper  restrictions  holding  companies  might 
be  tolerated.  They  should  not  be  permitted  to  operate  as  they 
do  now.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and 
minority  stockholders  and  investors  should  receive  protection 
in  addition  to  that  now  afforded  them.  I  believe  in  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission,  under  proper  restrictions. 

G.  J.  Bradley,  Sacramento,  Cal. 

I  have  thought  for  the  last  twenty  years  that  overcapitali- 
zation is  the  root  of  the  trust  evil.  Eliminate  this,  and  the 
solution  is  found. 

I  do  not  believe  that  the  wage-earner  or  the  consumer  de- 
rives a  profit  from  any  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale. 


407 

Elmer  L.  Wirt,  Editor,  "  Herald,"  Cookeville,  Term. 

Corporations  dominate  the  Federal  and  many  State  govern- 
ments and  practically  all  the  courts.  A  thoroughly  aroused 
public  sentiment  is  the  only  remedy,  and  that  but  partially, 
until  the  coming  of  collective  ownership  by  the  people  them- 
selves. I  favor  neither  national  incorporation  nor  Federal 
license  for  companies  doing  interstate  business.  The  States 
can  handle  the  matter  more  thoroughly  and  with  more  regard 
for  the  welfare  of  the  public.  The  exploitation  of  producers 
and  consumers  is  a  vital  point.  Make  it  a  penitentiary  offense. 
I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies,  but"  no  law  can  prevent 
a  person  from  investing  in  any  corporation.  Imprisonment 
must  be  the  penalty  without  the  alternative  of  fines  to  make 
the  law  effective  against  unfair  competition  and  restraint  of 
trade.  Capitalization  should  be  regulated  by  the  States.  I  am 
in  favor  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  if  honest  men  can 
be  had  for  commissioners.  All  the  advantages  claimed  for 
those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  result  in  no  good  to  the 
public. 

Fred  W.  Prindle,  Editor,  Wolfeboro,  N.  H. 

The  Sherman  Law  seems  to  be  clear  and  workable.  It 
should  not  be  amended,  unless  it  can  be  shown  that  such  amend- 
ment would  be  better  for  the  masses  of  the  people  than  in  its 
present  form.  I  would  favor  a  Federal  license  law,  if  license 
is  construed  as  control  or  regulation,  but  not  if  simply  for 
revenue.  I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  as 
long  as  this  is  a  government  by  the  people;  but  if  it  is  a  gov- 
ernment of  commissions,  yes.  Eegulation  of  the  large  organi- 
zations ;  unequal  taxation ;  lack  of  honest  competition ;  monopo- 
listic manipulations;  high  protective  tariff;  abnormal  standard 
for  living — all  these,  in  my  judgment,  have  contributed  to  busi- 
ness instability.  I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies  as 
such.  If  the  government  has  the  right  to  say  what  holdings  of 
individuals  or  corporations  shall  be  personal  property,  I  would 
favor  laws  on  that  subject;  otherwise  no.  There  should  be  no 
need  for  any  law  regulating  capitalization.  Overcapitalization 
is  a  species  of  fraud.  It  is  fraud. 

Samuel  H.  Edes,  Editor,  "  The  New  Hampshire  Argus  and 
Spectator,"  Newport,  N.  H. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  big  corporations  doing 
interstate  business — the  present  system  for  comparatively  small 
corporations.  I  prefer  regulation  to  the  abolition  of  holding 
companies.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization.  I 
admit  some  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  but  consider  that  the  claims  of  better  protec- 
tion against  industrial  accidents  and  command  of  the  best  abil- 
ity are  weakly  supported. 


408 

George  N.  Lamphere,  Sr.,  Editor,  "  The  Palouse  Republic/* 
Palouse,  Wash. 

I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  There  are 
too  many  commissions,  boards  and  courts  now.  Let  the  laws  be 
made  simple,  direct,  and  so  plain  as  to  be  understood  by  every 
intelligent  person,  and  so  unambiguous  and  clear  that  the  exec- 
utive officers  of  the  government  can  know  when  the  provisions 
of  the  law  are  violated,  and  can  put  the  machinery  in  motion 
that  will  speedily  punish  the  guilty  and  put  a  stop  to  unlawful 
practices. 

I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  Each  State  might  correct  the  evils  complained  of 
to  a  considerable  extent,  by  refusing  to  admit  bad  corporations 
to  do  business  within  its  borders.  The  Sherman  Anti-Trust 
Act  is  too  general.  Let  Congress  provide  specifically  what  is 
prohibited  and  what  allowed,  in  so  plain  terms  that  the  execu- 
tive officers  can  enforce  the  law  without  interpretation  by  a 
court  at  every  step. 

M.  W.  Camper,  Editor,  The  Florence  "  Times,"  Florence, 
Ala. 

I  have  a  most  positive  conviction  that  the  government  has 
not  adopted  the  best  plan  to  solve  the  grave  issue  now  before 
the  country.  I  believe  that  if  the  present  policies  are  con- 
tinued the  country  will  suffer  a  prolonged  period  of  depres- 
sion in  all  lines  of  business.  The  politicians  can  never  settle 
the  questions  on  an  enduring  basis.  If  possible,  a  department 
of  the  government  entirely  independent  of  changing  political 
sentiment  should  be  established  to  regulate  the  conflicting  in- 
terests of  the  large  corporations  and  the  people. 

The  people  in  this  section  I  believe  are  losing  faith  in  the 
ability  of  Congress  to  settle  these  delicate  and  difficult  ques- 
tions. They  see  the  necessity  for  "  regulation,"  but  they  fear 
the  "  wild  vagaries  "  of  the  politicians  and  distrust  them. 

We  are  hoping  that  the  wisdom  of  the  National  Civic  Fed- 
eration may  solve  the  problem. 

John   F.    Haskett,   Publisher,   "The    Courant,"   Bottineau, 
N.  D. 

Federal  license  and  a  law  requiring  State  corporations  to 
report  to  a  national  bureau  is  my  view  of  legislation  governing 
the  incorporation  of  companies  engaged  in  interstate  business. 
Uniformity  in  essentials  for  incorporation  should  be  a  condition 
precedent  to  issue  of  Federal  license.  I  favor  government  regu- 
lation of  capitalization  and  the  creation  of  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  The  claim  that  doing  business  on  a  large  scale 
carries  with  it  more  command  of  international  trade,  at  present, 
hinges  on  the  exploitation  of  producer  and  consumer  at  home 
and  on  that  basis  is  not  an  advantage. 


409 

P.  J.  Wright,  Editor  of  "  Profitable  Farming,"  St.  Joseph, 
Mo. 

I  believe  that  an  attempt  to  destroy  and  prohibit  large  aggre- 
gations of  capital  is  a  step  backward.  I  believe  that  such  organi- 
zation is  a  natural  and  progressive  evolution  in  our  commercial 
development.  I  believe,  however,  in  all  proper  Federal  regula- 
tic.n  and  in  my  opinion  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  needs 
extensive  amending  or  should  be  replaced  entirely  by  a  new 
act.  I  favor  the  creation  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission 
and  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  busi- 
ness. I  am  inclined  to  believe  in  holding  companies;  I  think 
it  probable  there  is  need  of  Federal  regulation  in  this  direction. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization. 

M.   S.   Norelius,   Editor,   "  Chicago   County  Press*"  Lind- 
strom,  Minn. 

Corporations  should  be  forbidden  to  engage  in  interstate 
commerce,  unless  properly  authorized  to  do  so  under  direct  con- 
trol of  the  government.  They  should  be  required  to  furnish 
monthly  statements  to  the  government.  I  am  opposed  to  hold- 
ing companies  and  in  favor  of  laws  providing  for  government 
regulation  of  capitalization  and  for  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission, with  provision  for  publicity  applying  to  commercial 
corporations.  At  the  same  time  I  recognize  that  the  advantages 
claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  are  well  taken. 

George  J.  Smith,  Publisher,  "  The  Plaza  Pioneer,"  Plaza, 
No.  Dak. 

I  believe  that  all  corporation  prosecution  should  stop  until 
they  can  be  regulated  without  taking  it  out  of  the  people.  A 
large  corporation  fine  now  means  that  they  will  simply  raise 
the  price  and  make  the  people  pay.  I  am  more  in  favor  of 
criminal  prosecutions.  I  favor  further  legislation,  if  that 
further  legislation  does  not  give  the  large  corporations  a  chance 
to  abrogate  the  effectiveness  of  the  Supreme  Court  ruling  of 
late.  I  also  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing 
an  interstate  business. 

Frederick  Ornes,  Publisher,  Mount  Vernon,  Wash. 

Capital  is  indeed  shortsighted  if  it  cannot  see  that,  unless 
it  is  satisfied  with  a  smaller  interest  on  an  investment  as  the 
size  of  the  investment  increases,  socialism — or  something  worse 
— will  soon  overwhelm  the  country  and  bring  on  a  condition 
which  all  peace-loving  Americans  would  not  relish.  Capital 
should  at  once  begin  to  adjust  itself  to  a  radical  change.  It  is 
courting  disaster,  right  or  wrong.  I  favor  uniformity  in  State 
laws,  or  Federal  license,  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce. 


410 

The  Thomas   D.  Murphy  Company,  Art  Publishers,  Red 
Oak,  Iowa. 

Suits  against  trusts  and  general  unsettled  political  condi- 
tions are  responsible  for  business  disturbance.  So  far  as  the 
old  competitive  methods  are  concerned,  we  are  certainly  in 
favor  of  unhindered  competition  in  all  lines  of  business,  except- 
ing, of  course,  patented  articles,  etc.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
not  be  repealed,  unless  we  have  something  better  to  take  its 
place.  Eailroad  rates  should  be  fixed  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission.  An  Interstate  Trade  Commission  might 
be  a  good  plan. 

George  L.  Wilkinson,  Editor  and  Publisher,  The  Burlington 
"  Republican,"  Burlington,  Colo. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to 
insurgent  Eepublican  agitation  for  lower  duties,  to  Canadian 
reciprocity  advocates,  to  low  tariff  agitators  and  to  Democratic 
supremacy  in  Congress,  together  with  a  possible  Democratic 
President  and  resulting  free-trade  legislation.  I  believe  the 
Sherman  Law  to  be  clear  and  workable.  Combinations  of 
farmers  should  be  rendered  lawful  under  the  Sherman  Act,  and 
railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

George  B.  Fiske,  Journalist,  Boston,  Mass. 

I  favor  legislation  that  will  provide  definite  general  restric- 
tion with  control  under  a  national  commission.  I  prefer  spe- 
cific statutes  dealing  with  practices  amounting  to  unfair  com- 
petition and  restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should  regu- 
late capitalization.  Laws  should  be  enacted  providing  for  pub- 
licity applied  to  commercial  corporations.  In  addition  to  the 
advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale 
may  be  added  greater  reliability  and  stability,  standardization 
of  products,  repairs  and  supplies.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

*C.  N.  Lund,  Newspaper  Man,  Salina,  Utah. 

Unwise  laws  and  unwise  methods  of  handling  national  affairs 
are  responsible  for  disturbed  business  conditions.  I  favor  a 
repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment  of  a  national 
incorporation  law;  also  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  I  am  opposed  to  holding  companies.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  enacted 
applying  publicity  to  commercial  corporations.  I  stand  for  all 
that  Insurgency  stands  for. 


411 

Charles  H.  Levermore,  President,  Adelphi  College,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y. 

I  believe  that  the  general  principles  of  regulative  trade 
legislation  need  now  to  be  only  these:  (1)  The  securing  of  com- 
plete publicity  concerning  prices  and  charges  and  concerning 
capitalization;  (2)  the  securing  of  governmental  control  by  an 
interstate  commission.  I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  com- 
panies doing  interstate  commerce.  I  accept  the  claims  made 
of  advantages  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  except 
that  I  believe  that  better  wages  are  probably  insured  only  by 
combinations  of  laborers  and  better  protection  only  by  govern- 
mental interference. 

E.  L.  Bailey,  M.  S.,  President  Greer  College,  Hoopeston, 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act 
as  sufficient  to  deal  with  the  exploitation  of  producers  and  con- 
sumers. I  favor  legislation  to  prevent  holding  companies. 
Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with 
by  statutes  expressly  forbidding  specific  practices.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be 
applied  to  commercial  corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed 
by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common 
carriers. 

George  F.  Swain,  Professor  of  Civil  Engineering,  Harvard 
University,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  In  view  of  the  interpretation  by  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  Sherman  Anti-trust  Act,  I  do  not  favor  additional  legis- 
lation dealing  with  the  exploitation  of  producers  and  consumers. 
I  believe  in  holding  companies.  I  favor  laws  calling  for  pub- 
licity that  will  apply  to  commercial  corporations.  The  advan- 
tages claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  are  real 
and  very  great.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with 
appeal  to  the  courts  or  to  a  special  court,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

H.    L.    Bridgman,    Business    Manager,    Standard    Union, 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  have  been  caused  by  official 
interference  with  established  business  and  by  political  agitation. 
I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  that  railroads  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion. 


412 

H.  C.  Plumley,  Publisher,  "  Fargo  Forum,"  Fargo,  N.  Dak. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  There  should  be  additional  legislation  for  the 
protection  of  producers  and  consumers  who  do  not  now  have 
adequate  safeguards.  Federal  license  and  supervision  will  do 
much  to  eradicate  the  evils  of  overcapitalization  and  wrongful, 
treatment  of  minority  stockholders  and  subsidiary  interests.  The 
advantages  enumerated  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale 
are  no  doubt  true,  but  with  them  also  come  dangers  to  those 
who  are  unable  to  secure  such  large  capital.  I  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are 
due  to  uncertainty  as  to  what  the  law  is;  overreaching  by  many 
large  corporations;  and  the  general  tendency  of  the  people  at- 
large  to  rest  on  present  conditions  without  proposing  anything 
better. 

J.  J.  Witt,  Editor,  "  Marshall  Republican,"  Marshall,  Mo. 

I  believe  the  nation's  welfare  is  best  served  by  the  small 
enterprises,  and  therefore  advocate  the  extra  taxing  of  all  large 
combinations  or  capitalizations,  to  even  up  the  disadvantages 
of  the  smaller  manufacturer.  A  Federal  law  should  compel 
all  manufacturers  to  sell  at  the  same  price  at  all  points  of  the 
nation,  making  allowance  for  transportation  and  storage  costs. 
Admitting  most  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale,  I  deny  that  large  business  has  afforded 
better  protection  against  industrial  accidents.  I  favor  Federal 
license  for  companies  doing  interstate  business.  I  am  opposed 
to  holding  companies.  The  government  should  see  that  the 
amount  of  capitalization  is  about  correct,  according  to  real 
values.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Edward  W.  Wild,  Editor,  Springfield,  Vt. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business.  The  law  should  provide  for  prohibition  of  all 
attempts  at  cornering  raw  materials,  prohibition  of  "  sellers7 
agreements"  under  severe  penalties  and  prohibition  of  present 
abuses  under  the  patent  laws.  The  government  should  regulate 
capitalization,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  should  be 
established,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  car- 
riers. 

Henry   M.    White,   Publisher,    "The   Berkshire    Gleaner" 
(Editor,  55  Years),  Lee,  Mass. 

I  believe  the  true  solvent  of  the  complication  of  difficulties 
and  present  disarrangement  of  business  will  be  found  in  a  law 
providing  national  incorporation  for  corporations  doing  inter- 
state commerce. 


413 

G.  W.  Wood,  Editor,  "Sun,"  Lewiston,  Me. 

I  would  have  no  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  or  any 
other  United  States  commission  and  no  statutes  regulating  inter- 
state commerce  (unless  possibly  a  simple,  general  statute  requir- 
ing equal  treatment  of  all  patrons),  leaving  to  the  courts  to  say 
what  is  equal  treatment. 

I  would  leave  every  citizen  who  thinks  himself  wronged  to 
seek  redress  in  the  courts.  The  United  States  courts  should  be 
reorganized  so  that  any  citizen,  however  poor  and  friendless, 
may  have  his  complaint  heard  at  once  and  his  rights  promptly 
enforced.  My  plan  would  do  away  with  terms  of  court  and 
money  limitations  of  jurisdiction.  Details  have  been  worked  out 
by  which  the  case  can  be  tried,  exceptions  heard  and  final  de- 
cision rendered  within  a  few  months  at  the  longest.  A  multitude 
of  decisions  would  develop  a  common  law  of  interstate  commerce 
more  just  than  is  possible  through  regulative  statutes  and  com- 
missions. 

Charles  F.  Scott,  Editor,  "Daily  Register"  and  Member 
of  Congress,  lola,  Kan. 

I  believe  all  the  benefits  of  the  trust  system  could  be  kept 
and  most  if  not  all  of  its  evils  eliminated  by  a  Federal  incorpora- 
tion law  which  should  permit  no  merger  except  upon  capital- 
ization representing  the  actual  value  of  the  property,  and  which 
would  create  a  commission  (perhaps  the  Bureau  of  Corporations 
would  do)  before  which  complaints  could  be  brought  by  any 
citizen  or  organization  of  citizens  who  believed  that  a  given 
combination  was  unfairly  restraining  trade,  just  as  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  hears  complaints  against  the  rail- 
roads and  makes  orders  to  correct  injustice  or  discrimination. 

Louis  McKinstry,  Editor  and  Proprietor,  "  Fredonia  Cen- 
sor," Fredonia,  N.  Y. 

In  addition  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  should  be  mentioned  that  the  expense  of 
so  many  traveling  agents  is  saved;  prices  are  uniform,  and  em- 
ployees are  better  treated.  Competition  is  brutal  and  unchris- 
tian, and  the  workers  suffer  most  by  it.  I  prefer  national 
incorporation  for  companies  doing  interstate  business,  and  na- 
tional control  fixing  prices  and  wages.  The  government  should 
regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  passed  applying  pub- 
licity to  commercial  corporations. 

Geo.   G.   Wilson,   Publicist,  and  Professor   Harvard   Uni- 
versity, Cambridge,  Mass. 

I  favor  Federal  control  of  companies  doing  interstate  com- 
merce. The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  should  be  first  enforced 
before  we  have  additional  legislation.  I  also  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 


414 

J.  W.  Canada,  Publisher,  Houston,  Tex. 

The  Sherman  Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable, 
and  should  be  amended  to  make  it  specific  and  to  provide  for 
the  enforcement  of  criminal  penalties.  Trade  unions  should 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  combi- 
nations of  farmers,  to  obtain  fair  prices  for  their  products, 
should  be  lawful.  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law  for  companies 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission, with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

Legislation  should  be  made  as  specific  as  possible,  leaving 
less  to  the  courts  for  interpretation.  The  government  should 
regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  provided  for 
commercial  corporations. 

Carl  B.  Clark,  Editor,  "  Journal,"  Gallipolis,  Ohio. 

This  section  of  Ohio  is  exclusively  devoted  to  agricultural 
interests,  and  the  general  sentiment  of  the  people  is  strongly 
in  favor  of  a  constructive  policy  of  legislation,  with  a  strong 
curbing  and  repression  of  corporate  abuses.  They  believe  in  a 
"  square  deal "  for  all.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  which 
should  not  interfere  with  the  control  by  the  States  of  matters 
which  are  purely  local;  but  large  combinations,  so  long  as  law- 
abiding,  should  not  be  harassed.  Holding  companies  are  neces- 
sary under  certain  conditions  of  trade  and  business,  and,  while 
carefully  supervised,  legitimate  enterprise  should  not  be  inter- 
fered with.  An  Interstate  Trade  Commission  is  a  necessity  of 
the  times,  necessary  to  the  manufacturer,  laborer  and  consumer. 

,Ovid  Bell,  Editor,  "Fulton  Gazette,"  Fulton,  Mo. 

I  do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  It  should 
be  amended  by  getting  rid  of  the  "  reasonable  "  interpretation. 
I  probably  favor  a  Federal  license  law  and  probably  also  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  eagerness  of  a  few  rich 
men  to  become  richer  is,  in  my  judgment,  a  chief  cause  of  dis- 
turbed business  conditions.  Deliberate  violation  of  the  Sher- 
man Anti-Trust  Act  ought  to  be  made  a  felony.  While  admit- 
ting the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale,  the  disadvantage  is  that  the  individual  is  submerged  and 
that  he  becomes  merely  a  part  of  a  huge  machine.  That  is 
bad  for  the  company,  for  legitimate  business  and  for  the  man. 

George    C.    Chase,    President    Bates    College,    Lewiston, 
Maine. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state commerce  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with 
powers  not  unlike  those  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers.  I  favor  govern- 
ment regulation  of  capitalization  and  laws  for  the  protection 
of  minority  stockholders  and  of  subsidiary  interests. 


415 

R.  L.  Kennedy,  Editor,  "  Springfield  Leader,"  Springfield, 
Mo. 

The  general  fear  that  one's  money  will  be  confiscated  under 
the  guise  of  regulating  corporations  is  a  fruitful  cause  of  busi- 
ness uncertainty  and  apprehension  on  the  part  of  investors.  I 
favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Railroads  should  be  allowed 
to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates. 

Trade  and  commercial  problems  must  largely  solve  them- 
selves. The  general  idea  seems  to  be  that  a  corporation  is  one 
thing  and  the  people  another,  and  that  the  interests  of  the  two 
must  necessarily  be  conflicting.  The  corporations  were  never 
more  owned  by  the  people  than  now.  Protect  the  stockholder 
fully,  and  let  the  people  safely  get  in  on  the  limits  if  they  are 
such  good  things.  As  it  is,  the  wage-earner  was  never  better  off 
than  to-day.  Possibly  the  limit  keeps  a  few  men  from  going 
into  business  for  themselves,  but  this  is  of  no  importance  to  the 
great  mass  of  wage-earners  and  consumers. 

Harold  Scarboro,  Lawyer-Editor,  "  Union  News,"  Towson, 
Md. 

I  deny  that  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale  exist.  Such  combinations  as  the  American 
Sugar  Company,  the  American  Tobacco  Company,  the  Steel 
Trust  (United  States  Steel  Company)  and  many  others  are 
merely  multiplications  of  units  and  cannot  produce  more  eco- 
nomically than  the  individual  unit.  If  the  so-called  trusts  were 
strictly  resolved  into  their  units,  an  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission would  not  be  necessary.  Until  that  can  be  done  I  favor 
the  commission.  I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing 
an  interstate  business.  I  am  emphatically  opposed  to  holding 
companies.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and 
laws  calling  for  publicity  for  commercial  corporations  ought  to 
be  enacted. 

Editor,  "Amerikan  Untisel  "  (Finnish  newspaper),  Calumet, 
Mich. 

Theodore  Roosevelt's  plan,  as  outlined  in  "  The  Outlook " 
for  November  18,  1911,  is  all  right,  and  the  recommendations 
made  therein  should  be  followed  out  by  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment. I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

F.  S.  Luther,  President  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Too  much  manufacturing  and  too  little  food  production  are 
causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions.  I  favor  the  repeal  of 
the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment  of  a  new  law.  I  also  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 


416 

Powell  Glass,  Managing  Editor,  "  The  News,"  Lynchburg, 
Va. 

In  regard  to  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  it  should  be  pointed  out  that  any  commodity 
demands  a  higher  price  where  there  is  competition  in  the  buy- 
ing. A  monopoly  can  fix  its  own  price  on  labor.  It  is  also 
true  that  where  there  are  competing  companies,  one  cannot 
afford  to  pay  more  for  labor  than  the  other;  monopoly  can 
pay  high  wages  and  add  the  same  to  the  cost  of  the  finished 
product  if  it  wants  to.  I  prefer  Federal  license  for  corpora- 
tions doing  interstate  business.  That  method  would  not  de- 
prive the  States  of  the  income  derived  from  granting  charters 
and  incorporation.  One  company  should  not  be  allowed  to  con- 
trol another.  Mere  ownership  of  stock  in  another  company  is 
not  necessarily  an  evil;  ownership  of  a  majority  of  stock  is. 

C.  W.  Fraser,  Publisher,  Menomonee  Falls,  Wis. 

Big  business  should  not  be  allowed  to  cause  restraint  in 
trade.  Co-operation  ought  not  create  monopoly.  Competition 
must  be  made  possible,  and  my  opinion  is  that  it  can  be  best 
brought  about  by  court  orders.  Strict  enforcement  of  the  Sher- 
man Law  will  give  us  relief.  The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and 
workable  and  should  not  be  amended  until  conditions  declare 
it  necessary.  I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Disturbed  business  condi- 
tions are  due  to  the  unwillingness  of  "  big  business  "  to  square 
their  methods  with  the  law  of  the  land. 

Eugene  T.  Giering,  Editor,  "  Record,"  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa. 

I  prefer  Federal  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  I  also  suggest  that  the  law  should  prohibit  a 
stockholder  in  one  concern  from  acquiring  large  interests  in  a 
competitive  concern.  The  exercise  of  new  authority  under  Fed- 
eral incorporation  ought  to  be  able  to  deal  with  unfair  competi- 
tion and  restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should  regulate 
capitalization,  and  laws  should  provide  for  publicity  applied  to 
commercial  corporations. 

Charles  W.  Leavitt,  Jr.,  Civil  and  Landscape  Engineer,  New 
York. 

The  uncertainty  in  people's  minds  as  to  what  the  Sherman 
Law  really  is,  and  the  confusion  brought  about  by  the  differences 
in  opinion,  not  only  of  laymen  but  of  lawyers,  in  regard  to  that 
enactment,  are  a  potent  cause  of  disturbance  in  business.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  made  absolutely  clear  and  distinct 
so  that  the  layman  can  thoroughly  understand  what  is  expected 
of  him  and  conduct  his  business  according  to  law,  without  the 
aid  of  so  much  legal  opinion. 


417 

F.  D.  Lander,  Editor,  "  The  Hattiesburg  News,"  Hatties- 
burg,  Miss. 

1  have  no  preference  as  to  Federal  legislation  dealing  with 
interstate  companies;  so  whatever  is  done  be  done  quickly.  I 
do  not  believe  in  holding  companies.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  enforced,  and  Congress  should  quit  playing  politics  and  get 
down  to  business. 

I  believe  that  the  "  advantages  "  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  do  exist.  I  believe  they  are  likewise  a 
menace  and  a  danger.  I  think  laws  should  be  passed  protect- 
ing the  people  from  the  danger  of  the  abuse  of  these  advan- 
tages. And  when  these  laws  are  violated,  the  criminals  should 
be  incarcerated,  as  other  criminals  are,  and  not  be  turned  loose 
upon  the  country  with  a  fine  or  reprimand. 

Eugene   Blake,  President,   Hiwassee   College,   Sweetwater, 
Tenn. 

It  is  a  very  sad  comment  on  our  Christian  civilization  that 
we  must  resort  to  legislation  to  make  our  monied  men  deal 
honestly  with  their  fellows.  The  advantages  claimed  for  those 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale  could  and  should  exist;  but  do 
they?  If  not,  stop  them!  I  favor  additional  legislation  to  pre- 
vent the  exploitation  of  producers  and  consumers — anything 
that  will  stop  this  rascality.  I  believe  in  holding  companies, 
under  restrictions.  The  government  should  regulate  capitali- 
zation, and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corpora- 
tions. If  I  understand  the  proposition  clearly,  I  think  that  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  to  control  the  large 
combinations  and  secure  justice  for  the  masses  of  the  people. 

P.  E.  Burton,  Editor,  "  News  Herald,"  Joplin,  Mo. 

There  is  a  strong  public  sentiment  opposed  to  the  sins  of 
large  incorporation,  or  so-called  trusts,  but  the  people  do  not 
want  the  day  of  unrestrained  competition  again.  The  tendency 
towards  socialism  is  so  great  that  the  middle  ground  wherein 
private  companies  shall  be  regulated,  instead  of  owned,  seems 
the  best  possible  solution.  Ownership  brings  stagnation  when 
all  the  people  are  concerned.  I  am  undecided  as  to  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission,  though  the  logical  outcome  of  large 
incorporation  is  the  trade  commission;  otherwise  relief  from 
oppression  will  come  too  slowly. 

Clifford  W.  Barnes,  Educator,  President  of  the  Legislative 
Voters'  League  of  Illinois,  Chicago,  111. 

Ignorance  concerning  the  meaning  of  the  laws  relating  to 
trade  and  uncertainty  as  to  the  government's  attitude  regarding 
the  enforcement  of  those  laws  are  causing  business  disturbance. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  if  it  cannot  be  properly 
amended.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


418 

John  Martin,  Publicist,  Grymes  Hill,  Stapleton,  S.  I.,  N.  Y. 

It  is  impossible  and  undesirable  to  restore  active  competi- 
tion of  a  sort  to  protect  consumer  and  producer  and  to  ensure 
public  welfare.  Combination  is  inevitable.  I  favor  Federal 
license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  Hold- 
ing companies  should  be  legal,  under  government  regulation,  to 
ensure  similar  control  as  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
has  over  railroads.  Laws  should  be  enacted  providing  for  gov- 
ernment regulation  of  capitalization  and  for  applying  publicity 
to  commercial  corporations  through  a  commission  to  be  ap- 
pointed for  that  purpose.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission, with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

C.   A.   Duniway,  President,   University  of  Montana,   Mis- 
soula,  Mont. 

I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  busi- 
ness— at  least  until  demonstrated  to  be  inefficient.  We  need 
time  to  see  the  workings  of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act,  and 
therefore  I  do  not  favor  additional  legislation  at  present.  I  am 
opposed  to  holding  companies,  but  I  do  not  think  the  question  a 
very  important  one  now  when  identical  boards  of  directors  and 
officers  can  get  the  results  of  holding  companies.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission,  although  doubtfully.  Federal  license  and  publicity 
may  go  far  enough. 

Josephus  Hopwood,  Late  President  Virginia  Christian  Col- 
lege, Lynchburg,  Va. 

Let  the  people  of  the  United  States  take  the  coal  business, 
as  they  have  taken  the  mail  business,  and  conduct  it  at  cost. 
And  certainly  they  should  take  the  telegraph  and  telephone  busi- 
ness and  conduct  them  for  the  good  of  the  people.  I  favor 
national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  busi- 
ness, and  my  other  proposal  on  this  point  is  national  ownership. 
I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  akin  to 
those  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  dealing  with 
common  carriers. 

Frederick  L.  Hoffman,  Statistician,  East  Orange,  N.  J. 

I  favor  Federal  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization, 
and  laws  should  be  passed  for  the  protection  of  minority  stock- 
holders and  subsidiary  interests  and  to  prevent  the  exploitation 
of  investors.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  In 
addition  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on 
a  large  scale,  should  be  added  the  protection  afforded  against 
panic  and  industrial  depression,  and  acting  as  a  safeguard 
against  overproduction. 


419 

Clyde  H.  Knox,  Editor,  "  Times-Star,"  Sedan,  Kan. 

I  believe  fully  in  strict  regulation  of  big  corporations,  but 
not  in  destroying  them  or  their  stocks  of  their  business.  I  know 
of  no  means  by  which  a  single  corporation — one  company — 
can  be  limited  either  in  power  to  underbuy  or  undersell  com- 
petition or  in  the  extent  of  its  resources.  I  favor  national  incor- 
poration for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  be- 
lieve in  holding  companies.  Overcapitalization  should  be  regu- 
lated by  the  government,  and  laws  should  be  passed  applying 
publicity  to  commercial  corporations,  through  a  commission  to 
be  appointed  for  that  purpose.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

Charles  Lee  Roper,  Professor  of  Economics  and  Dean  of 
Graduate  School,  University  of  North  Carolina,  also 
Historian  and  Lecturer. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation,  and  regulation  by  a  national 
commission.,  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  government  regulation 
of  capitalization,  provided  it  is  on  sound  principles,  and  the 
application  of  publicity  to  commercial  corporations.  The  sooner 
we  can  come  to  such  national  laws,  charters  and  commissions, 
the  better. 

F.  R.  Clow,  Teacher  of  Economics,  State  Normal  School, 
Oshkosh,  Wis. 

I  believe  the  attempt  of  the  government  to  suppress  the  big 
combinations  to  be  entirely  wrong.  They  should  be  punishea 
by  fine  for  unfair  treatment  of  producers,  consumers  and  com- 
petitors. I  believe  in  holding  companies.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  applied 
to  commercial  corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission, with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

I.  Harvey  Brumbaugh,  President  Juniata  College,  Hunting- 
don, Pa. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  I  favor  additional  legislation  supplementing  the 
Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  and  expressly  forbidding  specific  prac- 
tices in  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  public.  I  favor  govern- 
ment regulation  of  capitalization  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission, with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

Byron  S.  Adams,  Printer  and  Publisher,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  retain  an  attorney  to  examine 
every  move  in  business  to  learn  if  we  are  law-breakers.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law. 


420 

William  H.  Zeigler,  President,  i  Broadway,  New  York  City. 

Unsettled  business  conditions  are  due  to  political  disturb- 
ances, a  tax  on  corporations  and  the  tariff.  Also  to  high  prices, 
to  increase  in  cost  of  living,  to  automobiles  and  the  diversion 
of  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars  from  investments  or  savings 
into  that  article  of  luxury,  carrying  with  it  great  increase  in 
expense  of  the  owners  and  users.  It  will  take  some  years  for 
an  adjustment  of  these  matters.  When  bicycles  came  into 
common  and  general  use  the  same  disturbance  was  noted,  the 
difference  in  the  value  of  the  articles  being  the  relative  differ- 
ence in  the  country's  financial  ability.  The  advancement  of  new 
ideas  in  government,  such  as  the  ret-all,  referendum,  etc.,  has 
also  tended  to  unsettle  the  popular  mind. 

R.  L.  Telfer,  Manager,  Eaton  &  Co.,  Printers,  San  Jose,  Cal. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  to  Wall  Street  manipulation ; 
to  overproduction  and  underconsumption  caused  by  unequal 
conditions,  and  an  unjust  tariff  in  favor  of  special  subsidized 
interests;  a  growing  demand  of  the  people  for  more  equality 
in  representation,  and  other  conditions  too  numerous  to  men- 
tion here.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  if  not  controlled  by  special  interests; 
also  a  Federal  license  law  if  approved  by  a  majority  of  the 
State  legislatures.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to 
except  labor  arid  farmers'  combinations  for  self -protection. 

Lawrence    Keister,    President,    Lebanon    Valley    College, 
Annville,  Pa. 

Business  disturbance  is  caused  by  the  fact  that  the  people 
lost  confidence  in  "  big  business."  Big  business  men  used  their 
big  abilities  for  their  own  selfish  ends,  and  not  for  the  welfare 
of  the  people  and  the  country.  A  statesman  consecrates  his 
greater  talents  to  the  State,  and  great  business  men  have  not 
learned  to  do  this  yet.  They  are  in  the  lead,  but  are  not  leaders 
with  an  ethical  ideal  and  a  religious  purpose.  I  favor  Federal 
license  and  also  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  if  it  is  non- 
partisan  and  non-purchasable. 

William    W.    Smith,    Chancellor  of    the    Randolph-Macon 
System  of  Schools  and  Colleges,  Lynchburg,  Va. 

I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  busi- 
ness. The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  should  be  amended  and 
approved.  Possibly  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  exist,  but  are  not  likely  to  continue  when 
a  monopoly  has  been  secured.  New  machinery,  inventions,  etc., 
will  then  be  stifled — e.  g.,  the  Western  Union.  I  see  no  better 
plan  for  solving  business  problems  than  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 


421 

Frank  W.  Blackmar,  Professor  of  Economics  in  The  Uni- 
versity of   Kansas,  Lawrence,   Kans. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  busi- 
ness because  many  corporations  that  start  under  State  laws  sub- 
sequently do  interstate  business.  Their  business  spreads  from 
State  (or  local)  business  to  interstate  business.  Laws  should 
be  passed,  specifically  regulating  cold  storage  plants  and  produce 
exchanges  (boards  of  trade).  I  .do  not  believe  in  holding  com- 
panies. I  believe  in  large  corporations,  but  they  should  pos- 
sess solidarity  and  be  made  easily  amenable  to  regulation  by  law. 

I  favor  an 'Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Give  the  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission  power  to  fix  prices  in  emergency  cases 
when  the  market  is  cornered. 

James  P.  Morrissey,  President,  Santa  Clara  College,  Santa 
Clara,  Cal. 

The  spirit  with  which  law-makers  approach  the  solution  of 
questions  of  such  far-reaching  import  as  these  should  be  sym- 
pathetic, conciliatory  and  thoroughly  free  from  that  passionate 
ardor  for  the  disciplining  of  our  great  producing  and  distribut- 
ing agencies  which  is  essentially  narrow-minded  and  dangerous. 
I  favor  Federal  license^  and  I  think  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act 
sufficient.  I  believe  in  holding  companies  with  restrictions. 
Abuses  should  be  prudently  eliminated  and  the  proper  use  of  the 
beneficial  power  of  holding  companies  encouraged.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

James  B.  Kennedy,  Professor  of  Economics,  Union  College, 
Schenectady,  N.  Y. 

The  ideal  condition  for  companies  doing  an  interstate  busi- 
ness would  be  uniform  State  laws  with  State  incorporation  and 
Federal  supervision,  in  such  form  as  to  establish  full  publicity 
of  operation  under  the  direction  of  the  Bureau  of  Corporations, 
with  increased  powers  similar  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. I  favor  additional  legislation  giving  the  Bureau  of 
Corporations  power  similar  to  that  of  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  in  effecting  publicity.  I  believe  that  one  company 
should  not  be  allowed  to  hold  stock  in  another  company  doing 
the  same  or  a  related  business.  I  favor  government  regulation 
of  capitalization. 

Frank  T.  Stockton,  Instructor  in  Political  Economy,  Uni- 
versity of  Rochester,  Rochester,  N.  Y. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business.  I  believe  in  holding  companies.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  repealed.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


422 

Wm.  R.  Watson,  Librarian,  Public  Library,  San  Francisco, 
Cal. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  I  am  opposed  to  holding  companies.  Unfair  com- 
petition and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  reached  in  part,  if 
not  altogether,  by  statutes  expressly  forbidding  specified  prac- 
tices. The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws 
should  be  passed  calling  for  publicity  applied  to  commercial 
corporations,  through  a  commission  appointed  for  that  purpose. 
I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  Disturbed  business 
conditions  are  due  to  an  unsatisfactory  monetary  system  and  to 
extravagant  and  wasteful  expenditure  by  the  people. 

George  A.  Harter,  President,  Delaware  College,  Newark, 
Del. 

A  national  incorporation  act  for  concerns  engaged  in  inter- 
state business,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  to  whom 
all  complaints  of  the  methods  of  business  of  such  corporations 
might  be  referred,  would  go  far  to  secure  to  business  conducted 
on  a  large  scale  the  economies  of  a  wide  organization,  together 
with  equitable  and  fair  treatment  of  everybody  interested.  The 
Sherman  Law  as  it  stands  is  a  very  effective  instrument  to 
regulate  business. 

Theodore    Marburg,   Publicist,    Baltimore,    Md. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  I  believe  in  holding  companies.  Let  companies  be 
as  large  and  organized  in  any  way  they  have  a  mind  to,  and 
attack  the  whole  problem  from  the  side  of  conduct.  The  gov- 
ernment should  regulate  capitalization  and  apply  publicity  to 
commercial  corporations  under  Federal  license.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now 
enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to 
common  carriers. 

William  F.  Seller,  Chief  Liquidator,  Custom  House,  New 
York  City. 

Not  enough  reliance  is  placed  on  the  common  law.  If  all 
our  legislatures  could  suspend  operations  for  a  few  years,  during 
which  time  the  innumerable  laws  we  already  have  could  be 
reviewed  and  codified,  it  would  be  a  direct  gain.  I  regard  the 
Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable.  It  should  either  be  kept 
as  it  is,  or  be  repealed.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 

John  B.  Conner,  "  Indiana  Farmer  "  Company,  Indianapolis, 
Ind. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  I  also  favor  publicity  for  such  companies. 


Francis   J.    McConnell,    President,    De    Pauw    University, 
Greencastle,  Ind. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade 
should  be  dealt  with  by  statutes  forbidding  specified  practices, 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should 
be  passed  calling  for  publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial  cor- 
porations. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  to  control 
large  aggregations  of  capital  engaged  in  interstate  trade,  with 
powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

Fred.    W.    Atkinson,    President,    Polytechnic    Institute    of 
Brooklyn,  College  of  Engineering,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 

I  prefer  Federal  legislation  dealing  with  companies  doing 
interstate  commerce.  Yet  such  legislation  has  its  limitations. 
It  is  the  best  remedy  so  far  suggested.  Advantage  of  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale  is  so  evident,  both  to  the  producer  and 
to  the  consumer,  that  some  way  must  be  found  to  permit  it. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should 
be  enacted  applying  publicity  to  interstate  corporations. 

Olive  Otis,  Single  Taxer  and  Greenbacker,  Printer  of  "  The 
Rockland  Opinion,"  Rockland,  Me. 

Primarily  land  monopoly  and  unjust  taxation  are  responsible 
for  disturbed  business  conditions.  Business  will  never  be  good 
until  you  stop  piling  burdens  of  taxation  on  it  and  exempting 
monopoly.  A  rotten  currency  system  is  another,  but  secondary, 
disturbing  influence.  As  to  railroads  being  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates — make  railroads  actually  public  high- 
ways and  let  the  companies  agree  all  they  please. 

R.  E,  Stafford,  Editor,  "  The  Oklahoman,"  Oklahoma  City, 
Okla. 

I  prefer  Federal  license,  though  I  am  opposed  to  the  States 
ever  surrendering  their  power  over  corporations  in  full  to  the 
Federal  government.  I  favor  laws  to  prevent  holding  companies 
and  I  am  favorable  to  existing  or,  if  need  be,  to  additional 
legislation  which  will  destroy  both  unfair  competition  and 
restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion, and  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Edwy  C.  Reid,  Editor,  "Allegan  Gazette,"  Allegan,  Mich. 

I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business.  Additional  legislation  seems  to  be  necessary  if 
the  Sherman  Law  is  to  stand.  I  am  opposed  to  holding  com-: 
panics.  While  I  think  that  all  the  advantages  claimed  for  those 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale  exist  in  many  cases,  they  are 
used  (and  such  is  the  natural  tendency)  to  unduly  increase 
prices,  to  the  serious  detriment  of  consumers. 


424 

Edward   A.    Ross,   Professor   of   Sociology,   University   of 
Wisconsin,    Madison,    Wis. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  As  to  additional  legislation,  I  favor  the  bill  now 
being  worked  out  in  the  Legislative  Eeference  Bureau  of  Wis- 
consin. I  believe  in  holding  companies,  and  I  prefer  statutes 
dealing  with  specified  practices  for  the  prevention  of  unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should 
regulate  capitalization  and  should  apply  publicity  to  commer- 
cial corporations,  through  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I 
believe  that  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on 
a  large  scale  exist. 

Victor  C.  Alderson,  President,  Colorado  School  of  Mines, 
Golden,  Colo. 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  Sherman  Act  is  archaic  and  should 
be  replaced  by  a  law  or  laws  which  recognize  economic  condi- 
tions as  we  find  them  to-day.  The  vicious  attack  on  business 
is  the  cause  of  existing  uncertainty  and  anxiety  among  those 
engaged  in  business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed. 
I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission — that  is,  Federal  control  adapted  to  present 
needs.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  pub- 
licity should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations. 

Stillman    H.    Bingham,    Editor   of   the    "  Duluth    Herald," 
Duluth,  Minn. 

Business  has  become  national,  and  so  must  control  to  be  ef- 
fective. Regulation  in  the  interests  of  the  people  must  take  the 
place  of  the  present  blindly  destructive  effort  to  cure  the  evils 
of  monopoly  by  the  impossible  remedy  of  reviving  dead  com- 
petition. Legislation  is  needed  that  will  recognize  that  progress 
is  involved  in  the  centralization  of  industry,  and  which  would 
insure  that  the  many,  instead  of  the  few  alone,  get  their  fair 
share  of  the  benefits  of  centralization. 

J.  A.  Morgan,  Assistant  Professor  of  Economics,  Middle- 
bury   College,   Middlebury,  Vt. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  busi- 
ness. As  to  additional  legislation,  wrong  practices — clearly  speci- 
fied, resulting  in  a  monopoly  price — should  be  forbidden,  with- 
out hindrance  to  the  savings  of  organization  and  large-scale 
production.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization  and 
should  apply  publicity  to  commercial  corporation?,  through  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

William  H.  Gannett,  Publisher,  Augusta,  Me. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  the  enactment  of  a 
national  incorporation  law  and  the  creation  of  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 


425 

The   News   Publishing   Company,  Watertown,   So.   Dak. 

We  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an 
interstate  business.  We  are  opposed  to  holding  companies,  and 
advocate  additional  legislation  to  deal  with  the  exploitation  of 
producers  and  consumers.  The  government  should  regulate 
capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial 
corporations  through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for  that 
purpose.  We  think  that  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  would 
be  proper. 

J.   Eugene   Brown,   Business    Manager  and   Local   Editor, 
"  Chronicle,"  Farmington,  Me. 

I  would  prefer  national  incorporation  for  concerns  doing 
an  interstate  business.  I  see  no  objection  to  holding  companies. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization.  An  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  it  seems  to  me,  could  do  much  for  busi- 
ness. There  should  be  laws  providing  for  publicity  applied  to 
commercial  corporations.  I  believe  the  advantages  claimed  for 
those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  are  all  true,  and  that  by 
centralization  of  capital  and  brains,  business,  etc.,  the  laborer 
is  always  benefited  if  he  will  allow  himself  to  be. 

T.  J.  Brooks,  Farmer  and  Journalistic  Contributor,  Atwood, 
Tenn. 

There  is  no  great  disturbance  in  business ;  there  was  never  a 
time  when  there  was  no  disturbance  with  some  kind  of  business. 
"  Big  business  "  thinks  the  whole  world  is  disturbed  because  Taft 
has  tossed  a  monkey  wrench  into  the  machinery.  Somebody  is 
liable  to  get  hurt;  better  stop  the  machine  and  adjust  it.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  make  it  specific  and  definite. 
A  collateral  law  is  needed  to  supplement  its  provisions  in  the 
way  of  government  supervision  of  trusts.  I  favor  a  national 
incorporation  law,  if  not  too  subject  to  domination. 

Bronson   and   Nichols,   Editors,   "The   Thomas   Tribune," 
Thomas,  Okla. 

Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates.  We  favor  a  national  incorporation  law.  Additional 
legislation  should  be  enacted  to  prevent  the  exploitation  of  pro- 
ducers and  consumers.  The  government  should  regulate  capi- 
talization, and  laws  should  be  passed  for  the  protection  of 
minority  stockholders  and  of  subsidiary  interests  and  to  prevent 
the  exploitation  of  investors. 

Cast  Shober,  Publisher,  Fort  Wayne,  Ind. 

I  favor  only  the  unprejudiced  interpretation  and  enforce- 
ment of  the  Sherman  Law.  Present  disturbed  business  condi- 
tions are  due  to  the  "  right  of  might." 


James  W.  Mullen,  Editor,  "  Labor  Clarion,"  Official  Jour- 
nal of  the  San  Francisco  Labor  Council  and  the  Cali- 
fornia State  Federation  of  Labor,  San  Francisco,  Cal. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable.  I  do  not  con- 
sider it  entirely  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  old  competi- 
tive methods  in  business;  but  monopoly  should  be  prevented. 
The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed  or  amended  so  as  to 
exempt  organizations  not  formed  for  profit  and  having  no  cap- 
ital stock,  and  also  exempt  agricultural  products  in  the  hands 
of  the  producers.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,,  and  combinations  of  farmers, 
to  obtain  fair  prices  for  their  crops,  should  be  permitted. 

Levi  L.  Conant,  Acting  President  Worcester  Polytechnic 
Institute,  Worcester,  Mass. 

Many  things  are  responsible  for  disturbed  business  condi- 
tions— overproduction,  transition  period,  distrust  on  the  part 
of  capital.  The  Sherman  Law  is  not  sufficiently  clear  and 
workable  and  ought  to  be  amended.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law  or  Federal  license.  In  addition  to  the  other  advan- 
tages claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  it  should 
be  added  that  the  financial  and  business  world  is  rendered 
steadier.  I  believe  in  holding  companies,  under  proper  restric- 
tion. 

R.  G.  Caldwell,  Professor  of  Politics  and  Economics, 
Wooster,  Ohio. 

I  favor  Federal  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  inter- 
state business.  As  to  holding  companies,  I  think  that  there 
are  many  circumstances  under  which  such  companies  are  needed. 
The  government  should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should 
be  passed  for  the  protection  of  minority  stockholders  and  to 
prevent  the  exploitation  of  investors.  I  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed 
by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common 
carriers. 

John  C.  Hatzel,  Hatzel  &  Buehler,  Electrical  Engineers  and 
Contractors,  New  York. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused,  first,  by  definite 
and  unreasonable  interpretation  of  the  Sherman  Law;  second, 
continual  agitation  by  radicals  (or  so-called  progressives)  in 
both  political  parties,  giving  no  assurance  of  a  stable  and  per- 
manent condition  for  the  investment  of  capital.  I  favor  amend- 
ing the  Sherman  Law,  but  am  not  prepared  to  suggest  how  it 
should  be  amended.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law, 
Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 


427 

Arthur  Yager,  President  Georgetown  College,  Georgetown, 
Ky. 

I  prefer  the  Federal  license  plan  as  best  for  dealing  with 
companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  Additional  legisla- 
tion should  not  be  adopted  until  we  have  thoroughly  tried  out 
the  Sherman  Act.  While  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing- 
business  on  a  large  scale  undoubtedly  exist,  neither  monopoly, 
nor  near-monopoly  is  necessary  to  secure  those  advantages.  I 
favor  an  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

W.  J.  Bigelow,  Editor  and  Publisher,  "The  Caledonian," 
St.  Johnsbury,  Vt. 

I  believe  that  large  business  has  come  to  stay ;  that  we  should 
not  attempt  to  kill  it,  but  regulate  it  so  that  it  cannot  oppress 
the  producer  of  raw  material  or  charge  the  consumer  too  great 
a  profit  on  its  business.  I  believe  the  country  is  suffering  from 
too  expensive  distribution.  Too  large  a  proportion  of  the  people 
are  engaged  in  the  distributive  end  of  the  business.  Combina- 
tions should  greatly  reduce  this  expense  by  limiting  the  number 
of  distributors. 

Don  C.  Van  Deusen,  Editor,  "  The  Pilot,"  Blair,  Neb. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce,  also  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  to  regulate  inter- 
state corporations,  with  powers  similar  to  those  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission.  Overcapitalization  should  be  dealt  with 
by  the  national  government  and  by  the  States,  and  publicity 
should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations.  Admitting  all 
the  advantages  claimed  for  .those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale, 
they  must  be  held  down  to  reasonable  profits. 

Walter  R.  Linn,  Editor,  "  Harrisburg  Telegraph,"  Harris- 
burg,  Pa. 

Extreme  caution  should  characterize  legislation  on  any  and 
all  subjects  dealing  with  business,  and,  above  all,  we  should 
make  it  clear  in  the  beginning  that  we  do  not  consider  busi- 
ness as  necessarily  criminal  because  it  is  extensive  and  success- 
ful. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  and  I  also  favor 
laws  to  prevent  one  company  holding  stock  in  another  com- 
pany. 


Chapter  VI. 


LAWYERS. 


Edgar  H.  Farrar,  Lawyer,  ex-President  of  American  Bar 
Association,  New  Orleans,  La. 

Unless  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  is  amended,  the 
United  States  cannot  incorporate  private  companies  to  engage 
in  interstate  commerce.  In  my  address  before  the  American 
Bar  Association  at  Boston,  August  29,  1911,  1  pointed  ont 
that  the  true  remedy  was  a  compact  between  the  States,  with 
the  consent  of  Congress,  in  respect  to  uniform  State  corporation 
laws,  and  if  this  could  not  be  done,  then  that  Congress  should 
regulate  corporations  engaged  in  interstate  cojnmerce. 

I  do  not  favor  additional  legislation  to  deal  with  the  ex- 
poitation  of  producers  and  consumers.  The  present  act,  as 
interpreted  by  the  Supreme  Court,  is  good  enough.  I  do  not 
believe  in  holding  companies,  they  are  the  source  of  nearly  all 
the  evils.  I  favor  laws  that  provide  for  government  regulation 
of  capitalization.  I  favor  stringent  statutes  that  will  put  direc- 
tors in  jail  who  oppress  minority  stockholders,  and  that  will 
make  them  individually  responsible  for  double  damages.  I 
favor  State  supervision  of  the  organization  of  corporations  which 
will  prevent  the  issuance  of  fictitious  stocks  and  bonds,  and 
which  will  punish  by  severe  jail  sentences  all  fraudulent  ex- 
ploiters of  stock. 

There  is  no  objection  to  doing  business  on  a  large  scale 
with  large  capital,  but  such  capital  must  not  be  so  large  as  to 
enable  one  concern  to  swallow  up  and  monopolize  all  business  in 
its  lines;  and  the  business  must  be  conducted  without  unfair 
methods  of  competition. 

I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  believe 
in  stringent  regulation  by  law  so  as  to  maintain  competition  on 
a  fair  basis.  Such  a  commission  savors  of  socialism.  I  believe 
in  the  man  against  the  State.  I  believe  in  the  distribution  and 
not  the  concentration  of  wealth.  I  am  opposed  to  monopoly, 
whether  under  the  form  of  law  or  not.  I  deny  the  power  of 
the  State  to  fix  prices  in  private  business,  directly  or  indirectly. 

428 


429 

Charles  A.   Boston,   Hornblower,  Miller  &  Potter,   Attor- 
neys-at-Law,  New  York. 

I  do  not  favor  either  national  incorporation  or  Federal 
license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  There 
is  no  guaranty  that  Federal  laws  would  be  better  or  better  ad- 
ministered than  State  laws,  and  I  do  not  favor  the  suppression 
of  State  activities  by  Federal  law.  Edgar  H.  Farrar,  in  his 
address  to  the  American  Bar  Association  last  August,  sug- 
gested the  remedy  of  a  treaty  between  the  States  under  the 
sanction  of  Congress,  pursuant  to  the  Constitution.  I  favor 
trying  this  remedy. 

The  alleged  evils  charged  against  large  combinations  I  be- 
lieve to  be  true.  Overcapitalization  I  do  not  regard  as  a  very 
substantial  evil,  except  in  monopolies  and  public  service  corpora- 
tions, and  where  it  may  be  used  to  deceive  investors.  The  great- 
est evil  of  all  is  the  accumulation  of  dangerous  powers,  political 
and  economic,  dangerously  exercised,  in  plutocratic  hands,  tend- 
ing, as  I  believe,  inevitably  either  to  the  overthrow  of  democratic 
government,  or  in  revolution,  peaceful  or  otherwise,  for  its 
vigorous  restoration.  I  also  believe  that  this  tendency  has  been 
checked,  but  not  eradicated,  by  the  partial  enforcement  of  the 
law. 

In  general,  I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies.  I  disap- 
prove them  when  they  are  used  for  the  purpose  of  the  danger- 
ous growth  which  I  have  indicated.  When  they  do  not  reach 
this  dignity,  and  there  is  specific  economic  advantage,  I  think 
they  might  be  authorized  in  specific  instances  after  proper 
investigation.  I  do  not  favor  Federal  laws  calling  for  publicity 
to  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations.  State  laws  can  and 
should  provide  for  proper  publicity.  The  time  does  not  call 
for  the  regulation  of  prices.  Justice  demands  the  protection  of 
minority  stockholders  and  of  subsidiary  interests  in  the  courts, 
not  by  commissions.  Courts  are  more  largely  responsible  than 
legislatures  for  the  injustice  that  now  prevails,  through  their 
almost  universal  failure  to  apply  to  majorities  in  corporations 
those  principles  of  equity  and  good  conscience  which  they  apply 
to  all  other  owners  in  common.  Legislation  extending  these 
rules  to  transactions  within  a  corporation  is  needed. 

Eegarding  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business 
on  a  large  scale,  economies  in  production,  economies  in  distribu- 
tion and  greater  use  of  by-products  are  true.  Steadier  employ- 
ment of  labor,  and  at  better  wages,  is  largely  true — not  uni- 
versally. The  same  statement  applies  to  better  protection  against 
industrial  accidents.  The  claim  of  more  command  of  interna- 
tional trade  is  true,  but  partly  through  chicanery.  Command 
of  the  best  ability  is  true  within  limits;  but  ability  also  fails 
to  receive  recognition. 

If  one  does  business  on  such  a  large  scale  that  he  has  no 
need  to  dread  the  results  of  another's  achievements,  his  only 
incentive  is  internal,  and  he  is  not  necessarily  alert;  there  is 


430 

a  temptation  to  suppress  new  inventions  and  progress,  if  it  takes 
less  capital  to  do  this,  than  to  adopt  the  new  and  progressive; 
the  best  ability  may  be  commanded  when  recognized,  but  its 
recognition  in  subordinates  is  more  difficult  because  of  their 
distance  from  the  seat  of  power.  The  grave  disadvantage  is  the 
eradication  of  independence  and  the  tendency  to  develop  sullen 
discontent. 

I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  time 
has  not  yet  come  when  the  rights  of  American  citizens  should 
be  favors  accorded  to  them  from  above.  Specific  misdeeds  can 
be  classified,  enumerated  and  penalized  by  law.  The  penalty 
can  be  visited  on  the  man.  If  certain  things,  coming  within 
prohibited  categories,  are  deemed  advisable,  they  can  be  spe- 
cifically allowed;  but  it  is  unwise  to  leave  these  matters  to  the 
discretion  of  a  public  commission. 

The  Sherman  Law  owes  its  existence  to  a  spirit  which  is  as 
old  as  the  English  people.  Hitherto  that  spirit  has  not  been 
quellable.  It  was  manifested  in  the  Charters  of  Liberties  and 
of  the  Forests ;  in  the  Statutes  of  Mortmain  and  the  law  against 
perpetuities;  in  the  deep-rooted  objection  to  the  grant  of  mon- 
opolies ;  in  the  continual  controversies  in  the  American  colonies 
with  the  royal  governors;  in  the  execution  of  Charles  I  and 
the  situation  which  forced  the  abdication  of  James  II;  in  the 
Boston  Massacre,  so  called;  in  the  tea-parties  at  Annapolis  and 
Boston;  in  the  Acts  of  Settlement  of  the  English  Crown;  in 
the  Declaration  of  Independence ;  in  the  Bills  of  Eights ;  in  the 
American  Kevolution  and  the  War  of  1812 ;  in  the  refusal  to 
recharter  the  Second  United  States  Bank,  and  in  the  Civil  War. 
The  Sherman  Law  is  a  historical,  political  and  economic  land- 
mark. It  does  not  oppose  big  business  because  it  is  business,  but 
because  it  is  dangerous. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear,  but  workable.  It  is  not  clear 
because  its  reason  is  the  reason  of  the  last  judge.  It  is  work- 
able, if  its  spirit  as  well  as  its  letter  be  observed.  I  do  not 
favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law,  and  am  decidedly  opposed 
to  its  repeal.  I  would  have  no  objection  to  a  proper  law  defin- 
ing specific  penal  offenses  and  visiting  the  penalties  upon  the 
human  perpetrator.  I  would  be  slow,  however,  in  selecting  the 
acts  to  be  denounced.  In  other  words,  I  regard  the  necessary 
legislation  as  something  to  be  enacted  as  a  landmark  for  the 
ages  and,  therefore,  to  be  most  carefully  considered. 

As  to  railroads  being  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission,  I  do  not  believe  in  lodging  discre- 
tionary power  with  the  commission.  If  the  commission  is  made 
an  administrative  body  only,  to  see  that  principles  defined  in 
legislation  are  actually  observed,  I  would  not  disapprove  such 
agreements,  nor  the  exercise  of  such  administrative  power. 

An  Interstate  Trade  Commission  is  wholly  unnecessary,  and 
we  are  better  off  with  King  Log  than  we  might  be  with  King 


431 

Stork.  A  reform  of  the  tariff  and  pension  laws  is  a  practical 
impossibility.  A  reform  of  abuses  introduced  under  this  system 
would  be  likewise  impossible.  The  inaction  and  apparent 
acquiescence  of  government  officials  during  the  formative  period 
permitted  large  and  dangerous  aggregations,  and  permitted  the 
promoters  to  offer  their  "  securities "  to  investors  in  immense 
volumes,  though  not  so  as  to  deprive  the  promoters  of  control. 
Xow  the  investors  are  frightened,  and  those  whose  interest  lies 
that  way  foment  this  fear  by  misrepresenting  the  causes.  "An 
attack  on  business  "  instead  of  a  step  to  stem  revolution,  as  it 
is.  Of  course,  an  apprehension  that  vast  investments  will  be 
rendered  less  valuable,  if  not  destroyed,  affects  the  spirits  of 
those  who  have  these  investments,  and  the  effect  is  contagious. 
But  business  can  right  itself  within  lawful  limits,  whereas,  if 
the  tendency  toward  centralization  of  power  should  remain  un- 
curbed it  would  lead  certainly  to  revolution — and  very  probably 
to  an  undesirable  form  of  socialism. 

J.  Walter  Lord,  Lawyer,  Baltimore,  Md. 

FROM  A   LEGAL  STANDPOINT. 

I  think  that  the  objection  to  the  Sherman  Law,  in  so  far 
as  it  concerns  industrial  combinations,  lies  chiefly  in  the  fact 
that  the  remedy  is  not  scientifically  adjusted  to  the  evils.  Many 
economic  advantages  accrue  as  well  to  consumer  and  labor  as 
to  producer  from  the  fact  of  combination.  Disintegration,  if 
it  should  prove  to  be  effectual,  and  not  a  mere  formal  process, 
would  destroy  these  advantages,  and,  economically  speaking, 
would  be  reactionary. 

Any  amendatory  legislation  ought  to  proceed  from  a  primary 
recognition  of  the  following  conditions :  That  advantages  re- 
sult to  the  public  from  industrial  combination,  even  though 
that  combination  reaches  the  point  of  virtual  monopoly,  and 
that  the  normal  trend  of  business  is  in  this  direction;  that,  on 
the  other  hand,  there  are  evils  of  two  classes — those  incident 
to  the  process  of  combination,  and  those  resulting  from  a  con- 
dition of  virtual  monopoly. 

The  more  serious  evil  resulting  from  monopoly  is,  of  course, 
the  power  to  control  prices.  Logically,  the  appropriate  remedy 
would  seem  to  be  governmental  regulation  by  restriction  of 
prices.  Such  a  principle  is  not  a  new  one,  but  has  been  part  of 
Anglo-Saxon  jurisprudence  since  the  middle  ages;  and  has 
been  called  into  play,  either  through  judicial  or  legislative  ac- 
tion, when  under  prevailing  conditions,  the  economic  factor  of 
competition  is  absent.  We  find  an  embodiment  of  this  principle 
to-day  in  the  case  of  regulation  of  the  rates  of  railroads,  water 
and  gas  companies  and  other  public  service  corporations.  And 
there  would  seem  to  be  no  difference  in  its  application  to  a 
monopoly,  whether  the  monopoly  be  made  such  by  special  fran- 
chise or  arise  out  of  economic  conditions.  My  notion  of  apply- 


432 

iiig  this  principle  would  be  to  create  a  Commission  with  inci- 
dental powers  similar  to  those  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, and  with  the  principal  power  to  determine,  in  the  first 
instance,  whether  a  particular  combination  is  a  virtual  mon- 
opoly, within  the  meaning  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  if  so,  then 
to  fix  the  reasonable  maximum  prices — its  action  to  be  subject 
to  judicial  review  both  as  regard  the  existence  of  the  monopoly 
and  as  to  whether  the  prices  fixed  are  confiscatory.  In  the  ab- 
sence of  substantial  objections  on  practical  grounds,  I  think 
such  a  plan  would  be  an  improvement  upon  the  remedy  now 
embodied  in  the  Sherman  Act.  It  would  afford  ample  protec- 
tion to  the  consuming  public,  without  unduly  impeding  indus- 
trial development. 

As  regards  the  evils  incident  to  the  process  of  combination, 
such  as,  for  example,  unfair  competition.  I  believe  it  would  be 
reasonably  practicable  by  amendment  to  the  Sherman  Act,  to 
specify  the  greater  portion  of  acts  constituting  these  evils,  and 
prohibit  them  under  criminal  penalties,  as  well  as  provide  for 
civil  remedies  to  injured  competitors.  Effectual  safeguards 
might  also  be  created  by  empowering  the  Commission,  where  un- 
fair competition  is  being  conducted,  to  fix  minimum  prices,  and 
thus  prevent  selling  below  cost;  and  also  by  requiring  the  con- 
sent of  the  Commission  to  the  purchase  of  a  competitors 
property. 

I  do  not  favor  National  incorporation,  nor  do  I  see  any  par- 
ticular advantage  in  requiring  a  Federal  License.  The  Com- 
mission should,  however,  be  in  a  position  to  exercise  intelligent 
and  effective  control  over  corporations  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce,  and  to  that  end  these  corporations  and  also  com- 
panies owning  stock  therein  should  be  required  under  penalties 
to  register  with  the  Commission,  and  to  file  with  it  informa- 
tion similar  to  that  filed  by  common  carriers  with  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission. 


Frank  Bergen,  General  Counsel,  Public  Service  Corporation 
of  New  Jersey,  Newark,  N.  J. 

I  prefer  to  state  my  views  of  the  Sherman  Act  and  suggest 
remedies  for  the  present  deplorable  condition  of  the  law  relating 
to  monopoly  and  restraint  of  trade  in  a  few  paragraphs  instead 
of  answering  in  detail  the  questions  which  have  been  proposed. 

The  gentlemen  who  drew  the  Sherman  Act  undoubtedly  in- 
tended to  do  nothing  more  than  make  the  common  law,  relating 
to  monopoly  and  restraint  of  trade,  part  of  the  statute  law  of  the 
United  States.  This,  I  think,  is  clearly  shown  by  a  statement 
of  the  late  Senator  Hoar  in  his  autobiography,  and  more  dis- 
tinctly by  a  legal  opinion  that  he  gave  about  a  year  after  the 
Sherman  Act  was  passed  to  one  of  the  iron  corporations.  Sen- 


433 

ator  Hoar  probably  had  more 'to  do  with  the  choice  of  language 
used  in  the  Sherman  Act  than  any  other  member  of  the  com- 
mittee that  prepared  it. 

'i'he  language  of  the  act,  however,  was  not  happily  chosen. 
It  does  not  express  the  common  law,  but  lays  down  harsh  and 
rigid  rules  instead,  and  the  courts  for  twenty  years  have  felt 
constrained  to  administer  the  language  of  the  law  and  not  the 
purpose  of  the  gentlemen  who  framed  it  and  the  Congress  that 
passed  it..  • 

I  think  the  first  paragraph  of  the  annexed  document  is 
not  a  correct  statement  of  the  Sherman  Act  as  recently  in- 
terpreted in  the  Standard  Oil  and  Tobacco  cases.  The  Supreme 
Court,  as  I  understand  its  opinions,  did  not  decide  that  a  com- 
bination in  restraint  of  interstate  trade  with  purpose  of  con- 
trolling prices  and  stifling  competition  is  unlawful.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  combination  or  of  those  who  organized  it,  in  my 
judgment,  cut  but  a  small  figure  in  the  Court's  interpretation 
of  the  Sherman  Act. 

There  is,  I  believe,  a  quite  general  misapprehension  of  the 
meaning  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  its  opinions  in  the  Oil  and 
Tobacco  cases.  As  I  understand  those  opinions,  the  court  held 
that  the  Sherman  Act  must  be  construed  reasonably,  or  in  the 
light  of  reason.  It  did  not  hold  that  a  combination  engaged 
in  interstate  trade  is  lawful  if  it  is  reasonable.  The  court 
attempted  to  turn  the  light  of  reason  on  the  statute,  not  on  the 
combination. 

I  am  in  favor  of  a  Federal  statute  providing  for  incorpora- 
tion of  parties  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  think  the 
capitalization  of  such  corporations  should  be  controlled  by  Fed- 
eral authority,  including  the  right  to  hold  stock  in  other  cor- 
porations. I  do  not  think  holding  companies  should  be  pro- 
hibited, but  their  holdings  should  be  controlled  by  Federal 
authority.  I  realize  that  Federal  incorporation  would  add  large- 
ly to  the  responsibilitv  of  the  Federal  Government  and  to  the 
rl anger 8  that  always  attend  the  possession  of  power  over  busi- 
ness and  capital,  but  I  do  not  think  there  is  any  way  that  the 
benefits  of  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  can  be  otherwise  ob- 
tained. 

Augustus  P.  Loring,  Lawyer  and  Director  in  Manufactur- 
ing Enterprises,  also  President  of  Plymouth  Cordage 
Company,  Boston,  Mass. 

I  do  not  favor  either  national  incorporation  or  Federal 
license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  In  my 
opinion,  the  Federal  government  is  less  trustworthy  than  the 
State  governments.  I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies.  I 
rlo  believe  in  co-operation.  I  favor  government  regulation  of 
capitalization  and  publicity  applied  to  commercial  corpora- 
tions. 


434 

In  addition  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  should  be  added  that  the  brains  of  the 
best  man  spread  over  more  ground  and  that  the  management  is 
more  impersonal  and  therefore  more  likely  to  be  actuated  by 
a  desire  to  serve  the  best  interests  of  all  concerned — a  bad 
manager  is  not  kept  by  nepotism  in  large  concerns.  I  do  not 
favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  It  is  too  big  a  propo- 
sition for  any  one  set  of  men  to  handle.  There  is  too  much 
law-making.  Old  methods  of  competition  have  been  eliminated 
by  evolution. 

I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  Railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the 
approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion. Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation 
of  the  Sherman  Act.  Combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict 
production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be 
rendered  lawful. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  desire  of  those 
who  have  not  saved  anything  to  obtain  part  of  the  wealth  which 
others  have  accumulated,  and  to  political  agitation  with  that 
fact  in  view.  Better  let  the  strong  men  make  money — and  take 
part  of  it  away  from  them  by  taxation  and  otherwise — than 
prevent  anyone  from  being  prosperous. 

Amasa  M.  Eaton,  Lawyer- Jurist,  Providence,  R.  I. 

To  the  alleged  evils  charged  against  large  combinations 
should  be  added  the  buying  of  patents  to  prevent  their  use, 
in  order  that  such  buyer  may  continue  to  supply  the  market 
and  retain  his  profits  with  a  poor  or  clear  article  or  method. 

For  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  a  model 
Federal  incorporation  law  should  be  framed.  All  corporations 
engaged  in  interstate  commerce  should  be  taxed  annually  by 
the  Federal  government  (through  a  license  or  other  tax),  and 
this  tax  or  license  should  be  less — much  less — if  such  a  corpora- 
tion becomes  incorporated  under  the  model  Federal  incorpora- 
tion law. 

For  dealing  with  the  exploitation  of  producers  and  consum- 
ers let  the  Sherman  Act  stand  as  it  is,  and  pass  another  act 
defining  crimes  under  that  act.  I  favor  laws  that  will  prevent 
the  evils  attendant  upon  holding  companies.  Holding  com- 
panies are  liable  to  such  abuses — they  should  be  illegal.  Unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with  by  legis- 
lation expressly  forbidding  specified  practices.  I  favor  laws 
providing  for  government  regulation  of  capitalization,  also  laws 
that  call  for  publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations. 

Admitting  some  of  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale,  I  doubt  the  claim  of  better  wages  for 
labor.  Better  protection  against  industrial  accidents  is  not  se- 
cured until  public  opinion  and  the  law  force  employers  to  action. 


435 

More  command  of  international  trade  is  at  the  expense  of  the 
American  consumer. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not 
unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion in  relation  to  common  carriers,  combined  with  laws  com- 
pelling publicity  by  corporations  engaged  in  interstate  com- 
merce. 

R.  A.  Jackson,  General  Counsel,  Great  Northern  Railway 
Company,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

The  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions  are:  (1)  Poli- 
ticians; (2)  yellow  newspapers;  (3)  high  cost  of  living,  due, 
in  part,  to  unlawful  combinations;  (4)  extravagance  of  the 
people;  (5)  trying  to  run  the  business  of  the  country  from 
Washington. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  reasonably  clear  as  to  the  law.  It  is 
not  workable  without  great  sacrifice  of  business  interests.  I 
do  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law.  I  favor  supple- 
mental legislation,  (a)  defining  legality  of  corporate  organiza- 
tions of  interstate  companies;  (&)  requiring  capital  stock  to  be 
fully  paid;  (c)  supervision  b}^  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  La- 
bor as  to  organization;  (d)  regulation  of  conduct  under  the 
Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act  as  it  is  now. 

Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission. 

As  to  a  national  incorporation  law  or  a  Federal  license  law, 
I  favor  one  or  the  other,  which  will  permit  a  corporation — with- 
out a  decree  of  court — to  know  that  it  is  a  legal  combination. 
The  Sherman  Act  will  then  take  care  of  its  conduct.  I  do 
not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

John  B.  Kerr,  Vice  President,  General  Counsel  and  Director, 
New  York,  Ontario  and  Western  Railroad  Company, 
New  York  City. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  too  great  increase 
of  productive  plant,  demagogy  and  a  weak  yielding  of  so-called 
statesmen  who  know  better,  to  the  discontent  incited  by  the 
demagogues,  and  lack  of  constructive  statesmanship.  Uncer- 
tainty about  the  construction  to  be  given  the  Sherman  Act  has 
also  been  a  factor  in  checking  extension  of  existing  or  formation 
of  new  industrial  enterprises.  This,  however,  is  not  entirely 
harmful,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  existing  plants  are  sufficient 
for  the  time  being.  The  increased  cost  of  all  labor  has  also 
contributed  to  the  present  situation. 

The  intention  of  the  Sherman  Law  has  been  made  clear, 
but  as  there  are  no  standards  fixed,  whether  any  given  combina- 
tion is  a  violation,  could  only  be  determined  by  a  court. 


436 

It  is  workable  to  the  same  extent  as  before  the  act.  When  the 
common  law  applied,  it  was  workable.  For  amendment  I  sug- 
gest: Strike  out  the  penal  provisions;  let  the  penalty  be  the 
money  loss  resulting  from  dissolution.  The  courts  would  prob- 
ably be  more  apt  to  enforce  absolute  liquidation  hereafter,  par- 
ticularly if  there  is  no  penal  provision. 

Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  be  excepted  from 
the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act  if  confined  to  the  combina- 
tion of  men  in  one  trade  or  industry,  so  as  to  permit  "  collective 
bargaining  "  by  them  in  that  line  with  their  employers. 

Dunbar  F.  Carpenter,  Counsellor-at-Law,  Colorado  Springs, 
Colo. 

I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  A  law  should  be  enacted  based  on  modern  expe- 
rience, frankly  recognizing  the  fact  of  combination  and  merely 
restraining  the  bad  features  thereof,  such  as  unfair  competition 
and  buying  off  competitors.  I  do  not  believe  in  holding  com- 
panies and  see  no  harm  in  genuine  fusion  between  competitors. 
A  revision  of  the  Sherman  Act,  to  bring  it  into  harmony  with 
the  conditions  of  modern  business,  is  most  desirable.  The  gov- 
ernment should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  en- 
acted calling  for  publicity  to  be  applied  to  commercial  corpora- 
tions through  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  undoubtedly  exist  in  the  main,  but  the  public  does  not 
get  the  benefit.  Prices  are  kept  as  high  as  possible  regardless 
of  the  economies  effected. 

In  my  opinion,  the  Sherman  Law  is  an  attempt  to  compel 
business  to  revert  to  the  days  of  individualism.  Business  must 
combine  and  will.  To  say  you  shall  not,  as  does  the  Sherman 
Law,  is  as  fruitless  as  to  forbid  the  waves  to  roll  in.  A  frank 
recognition  of  the  way  in  which  modern  business  must  be  car- 
ried on  is  the  first  requisite.  Then  regulation  will  logically 
follow.  The  Sherman  Law  is  simply  driving  big  business  to 
cover.  It  benefits  no  one.  We  need,  not  a  dissolution  of  old 
combinations,  nor  prohibitions  of  new  ones,  but  a  sane  law 
looking  to  the  prevention  of  those  evils  which  have  made  the 
trusts  odious.  Unfair  competition  and  discrimination  must  be 
prevented.  Mere  size  is  not  of  the  least  importance ;  rather  the 
way  the  combination  behaves. 

Robert  B.  Woodward,  45  Wall  street,  New  York. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  either  be  repealed  or  should  be 
subjected  to  radical  amendment  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  dis- 
turb "  big  business."  At  present  the  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear 
and  workable  either  to  me  or  to  the  general  public. 


437 

Chas.  Robinson  Smith,  25  Broad  street,  New  York. 

It  seems  to  me  that  to  the  certain  advantages  claimed  for 
large  corporations  there  should  be  added  the  insurance  against 
business  risk  afforded  by  large  concerns,  the  decreased  business 
mortality,  the  lessened  risk  to  capital  invested,  and  the  lower 
rate  of  interest  or  dividends  at  which  capital  can  be  commanded 
— an  economy  which  must  ultimately  go  to  the  advantage  of  the 
consumer  or  of  the  working  people. 

Answering  the  question  whether  I  should  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission,  I  should  say  I  do  not.  I  do  not  agree  with 
the  premises  on  which  this  question  is  based.  Since  the  Supreme 
Court  has  finally  held  that  the  words  "  restraint  of  trade "  in 
the  Sherman  Act  have  the  like  significance  as  at  common  law, 
'and  since  at  common  law  and  by  the  statutes  of  most  of  the 
States  competing  concerns  could  unite  or  consolidate,  provided 
the  intent  or  result  were  not  to  restrain  trade  in  an  undue  de- 
gree or  control  prices  and  stifle  competition,  it  would  seem  as 
if  this  common-law  rule  is  all  that  large  businesses  should  ask 
under  the  Sherman  Law.  It  is  not  necessary  in  order  to  secure 
the  advantages  set  forth  in  your  Questionnaire  that  industrial 
concerns  should  be  as  large  as  the  Standard  Oil  Company  or 
the  American  Tobacco  Company  either  in  capital  or  in  per- 
centage of  trade  enjoyed.  In  almost  any  trade  or  industry  a 
concern  that  can  handle  from  ten  to  twenty-five  per  cent,  of 
the  trade  of  the  country  is  large  enough  to  develop  for  itself 
and  the  community  the  advantages  set  forth,  and  this  without 
stifling  competition,  either  actually  or  potentially. 

It  is  true  that  some  points  in  regard  to  the  working  and 
effect  of  the  Sherman  Law  still  need  to  be  elucidated ;  but  these 
are  in  course  of  being  worked  out  in  the  various  suits  pending, 
and  they  are  much  more  likely  to  be  logically  and  satisfactorily 
settled  through  the  development  of  the  common  law  as  applied 
to  the  Federal  jurisdiction  than  they  are  by  fresh  legislation 
which  would  impose  additional  burdens  on  the  courts  in  constru- 
ing it. 

I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  the  old  competitive 
methods  of  small  businesses  and  small  competitors,  and,  if 
feasible,  I  should  consider  such  a  return  inadvisable;  but  I  do 
believe  that  without  losing  the  advantage  of  production  on  a 
large  scale  trade  may  be  kept  exposed  to  the  salutary  influence 
of  competition,  both  actual  and  potential.  Competition  need  not 
be  actual,  and  certainly  need  not  be  ruinous  in  order  to  exercise 
its  regulating  force.  The  "  potentiality "  of  competition,  as 
it  was  termed  by  Mr.  Justice  White,  is  in  most  cases  sufficient. 

I  should  not  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  until  it 
becomes  clear  that  something  better  can  be  devised  than  the 
wisdom  of  the  ages  as  expressed  in  the  common-law  rules  on 
restraint  of  trade  as  the  same  are  evolved  by  the  courts  to  meet 
the  changing  conditions. 


438 

I  believe  that  railroads  should  be  allowed  to  make  agree- 
ments affecting  rates.  They  do  so  now  in  effect,  but  their  action 
is  illegal  and  is  allowed  from  necessity. 

I  think  trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  Sher- 
man Act  otherwise  than  as  they  are  now.  They  are  now  free 
to  strike  and  to  combine  for  higher  wages,  etc.,  just  as  employ- 
ers are  supposed  to  be  free  to  combine  for  a  lockout.  The  Sher- 
man Act  prohibits  them  from  boycotting  interstate  commerce. 

I  do  not  think  that  farmers  as  a  class  should  be  singled  out 
for  special  favors  of  legislation.- 

I  think  that  a  corporation  bureau  or  commission  empowered 
to  pass  on  Federal  charters,  to  collect  annual  reports  and  insist 
upon  publicity,  and  empowered  to  investigate,  but  without  the 
power  to  regulate  prices,  could  be  made  useful  both  in  the  em 
forcement  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  in  protecting  corporations 
against  unjust  attempts  to  pervert  it. 

In  conclusion,  my  judgment  is  that  one  of  the  potent  causes 
of  the  present  disturbed  business  conditions  is  the  enforcement 
of  the  Sherman  Law,  necessary  as  that  seems  to  be ;  but  I  think 
that  a  more  important  cause  is  the  violent  discussion  of  the 
whole  subject  and  the  attempts  of  large  numbers  of  politicians 
to  make  the  law  more  drastic.  The  alternative  seems  to  be 
presented  either  of  a  Sherman  Law  which  will  go  so  far  as  to 
prohibit  even  two  interstate  expressmen  from  uniting,  or  one 
that  will  practically  fix  prices.  These  are  threats  that  will  con- 
tinue to  keep  business  agitated  until  they  are  settled. 

Robert  €.  Wheeler,  Lawyer,  Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  will  not  be  workable  until  it  is  clearly 
established  what  are  and  what  are  not  reasonable  combinations. 
A  return  to  old  competitive  methods  is  clearly  not  feasible 
through  preventing  combinations;  but  it  is  feasible  to  attempt 
to  prevent  abuses  arising  through  combinations.  1  do  not 
favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law  until  we  have  a  great  deal 
more  interpretation  of  the  present  law  by  the  courts.  Amend- 
ing now  would  be  like  trying  to  patch  imaginary  holes  in  the 
dark.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  opera- 
tion of  the  Sherman  Act.  Sympathetic  strikes  are  clearly  as 
bad,  if  not  worse,  than  combinations  of  capital.  I  favor  a 
national  incorporation  law,  if  we  have  to , have  corporations  for 
pecuniary  profit.  Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  a 
combination  of  European  conditions,  the  action  of  Federal  ex- 
ecutives, and,  most  of  all,  the  unstable  condition  of  the  aver- 
age corporation  for  pecuniary  profit. 

The  foregoing  answers  express  my  general  opinion  as 
formed  by  my  professional  experience  and  general  environ- 
mental influences.  Being  connected  with  the  law  firm  of  Mil- 
ler, Starr,  Packard  &  Peckham,  Mr.  Miller  being  senior  coun- 
sel in  the  case  of  IT.  S.  vs.  Swift,  Armour,  et  al.,  I  am  more 
or  less  influenced  by  that  relation. 


439 

Francis  Beidler,  72  West  Adams  street,  Chicago,  111. 

(1)  Do  you  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  inter- 
preted, is  made,  clear  and  workable  ? 

Answer:  The  Sherman  Law  has  been  on  the  books  so  long 
that  I  think  it  would  be  exceedingly  dangerous  to  attempt  to 
amend  it;  at  least  since  Koosevelt's  reign  has  begun  to  teach 
the  people  that  freedom  does  not  mean  license.  It  is  time  that 
all  men  (if  they  will  not  do  it  of  their  own  volition)  are  forced 
to  do  business  based  on  conscience.  If  it  is  possible  to  develop 
a  Federal  Government  Act,  as  proposed  by  President  Taft,  to 
avoid  possible  misapprehensions  and  weaknesses  of  the  Sherman 
Act,  I  think  it  would  be  wise  to  place  same  on  the  statute  book. 
The  so-called  lack  of  understanding  as  to  what  business  men 
may  do  under  the  Sherman  Law  I  deem  more  the  result  of  rest- 
lessness on  account  of  government  control  of  business  men  who 
have  never  known  what  it  was  to  be  restricted  to  a  basis  of  what 
was  right,  rather  than  what  they  thought  or  desired  to  do. 

(2)  Do  you  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  what 
are  commonly  known  as  old  competitive  methods  in  business? 

Answer:  I  have  done  business  since  1873  on  the  basis  of 
open  competition,  on  the  principle  that  the  best  man  wins  and 
the  survival  of  the  fittest,  and  it  is  inequitable,  in  my  judgment, 
to  the  young  man  or  the  struggling  man  without  influence  or 
capital  that  any  other  process  should  prevail;  and  it  is  inequi- 
table to  the  consumer  that  excessive  profits  should  prevail.  The 
so-called  regulation  of  prices  by  the  Federal  government  is  too 
absurd  to  consider  as  a  means  of  protection.  No  condition  is 
practical  or  just  which  attempts  to  make  profitable  any  line  of 
business  other  than  laws  which  give  equal  opportunity  to  all. 
This  government  cannot  maintain  itself  if  classes  are  favored. 

(3)  Do  you  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law? 
Answer:    I  certainly  do  not.     It  should  be  enforced  without 

fear  or  favor. 

(4)  Do  you  favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law  in  any  way? 
If  so,  in  what  particulars? 

Answer:  No.  It  is  dangerous  to  play  with  it.  Men  who 
wish  to  ignore  it  or  evade  it  are  the  ones  who  would  repeal  or 
amend  it  in  order  to  indulge  further  complications  of  which  we 
know  not. 

(5)  Should  railroads  bo  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce   Commission  ? 

Answer :  They  certainly  .should  not  be.  If  the  management 
is  not  able  to  maintain  rates  on  individual  lines  that  are  remu- 
nerative and  are  running  around  with  a  chip  on  their  shoulder, 
it  is  time  the  stockholders  found  new  managers.  There  must 
be  open  competition  and  a  fair  field  for  all  lines  of  business. 

(6)  Should  trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of 
the  Sherman  Act? 


440 

Answer :  No.  They  should  be  amenable  to  law  just  as  every 
other  line  of  trade,  employment,  or  business  is,  and  they  could 
be  made  to  be  were  it  not  for  the  corrupting  influence  of  poli- 
ticians who  seek  their  vote  and  influence. 

(7)  Should  combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  pro- 
duction or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  be  rendered  lawful 
under  the  Sherman  Act? 

Answer:  No.  They  should  also  be  in  the  same  position  as 
all  other  lines  of  employment,  trade  and  commerce,  and  it  is 
not  practical  even  if  they  were  allowed.  The  agricultural  pro- 
duction of  the  country  could  not  combine;  it  is  too  vast.  It  is 
utterly  absurd  to  think  of  it.  The  same  is  true  of  lines  of  busi- 
ness such  as  I  am  engaged  in — that  of  lumber  manufacturing. 
There  are  thousands  of  institutions  throughout  the  country,  and 
no  control  of  them  is  practical  or  possible.  It  is  indefensible 
to  allow  lines  such  as  steel,  oil,  tobacco,  or  lines  which  on  ac- 
count of  the  enormous  capital  required,  to  handle  the  product 
and  to  reduce  their  numbers  to  a  minimum  and  thereby  com- 
bine and  force  the  balance  of  the  community  to  pay  excessive 
prices  for  their  product  and  enrich  themselves  at  the  expense 
of  the  masses  of  the  people. 

Remarks-'  When  the  time  comes  that  no  man  or  combina- 
tion of  men  are  allowed  to  issue  a  security,  a  bond  or  a  stock 
certificate  which  does  not  represent  absolute  moneyed  investment ; 
or  if  such  are  issued,  they  are  forced  to  print  across  the  face 
"  This  issue  made  on  earning  power  and  not  on  investment " ; 
when  no  man  is  allowed  to  combine  in  any  way  to  restrict  pro- 
duction or  control  prices;  when  every  corporation  is  forced  to 
buy  its  goods  on  the  basis  of  lowest  prevailing  market,  or  be 
punished  as  the  result  of  favoritism  and  indirect  division  of 
profits;  when  no  official  of  a  railroad  company  or  big  corpora- 
tion is  allowed  to  be  directly  or  indirectly  interested  in  any 
supplies  furnished  to  such  corporation,  and  criminal  action  is 
the  punishment  for  such  interest;  when  every  man  or  woman  in 
the  country  is  t>laced  on  equal  footing,  then  we  will  have  Eoose- 
velt's  square  deal  to  which  every  one  is  entitled.  Labor  methods 
rule  by  muscle.  The  trusts  and  the  classes,  to  the  extent  that 
they  evade  the  law,  rule  by  brain  and  money.  The  laboring 
men  have  been  taught  by  the  classes  how  to  do  it.  All  should 
be  reformed.  The  lawyers  should  change  their  ethics  to  finding 
out  what  the  law  is  and  teach  their  clients  to  abide  by  it,  rather 
than,  as  now  is  the  practice,  to  find  a  technicality  whereby 
they  may  evade  it. 

This  course  may  result  in  temporary  continued  depression 
in  business,  but  the  country  is  too  rich  for  it  to  have  any  serious, 
permanent  effect;  and  when  interests  which  have  been  evading 
the  law  realize  that  they  cannot  continue,  they  will  soon  adapt 
themselves  to  the  law.  and  the  country  will  be  vastly  benefited 
by  the  new  order  of  things. 


441 

Albert  N.  Merritt,  LL.  B.,  Ph.  D.,  Secretary  Wholesale 
Grocers'  Exchange  of  Chicago,  and  Professor  of 
Interstate  Commerce  Law  in  the  Chicago  Law 
School,  Chicago,  111. 

I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  as 
clear  and  workable.  I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to 
old  competitive  methods  in  business.  I  favor  either  a  repeal 
of  the  Sherman  Law  or  proper  amendment.  If  amended,  it 
should  be  made  clear.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and 
regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  They  find 
it  necessary  to  do  this  at  present,  at  least  in  eifect.  Better  have 
such  agreement  above-board  and  subjected  to  proper  supervision 
I  think  there  should  be  no  exceptions  to  the  Sherman  Act, 
either  for  trade  unions  or  for  farmers'  combinations. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not 
unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commis- 
sion in  relation  to  common  carriers.  I  do  not  favor  Federal 
incorporation  or  Federal  license  tax  for  corporations.  Each 
State  can  properly  protect  itself  by  requiring  foreign  corpora- 
tions doing  business  within  its  limits  to  conform  to  State  re- 
quirements. I  favor  additional  legislation  which  will  make  un- 
lawful any  combination  which  directly  affects  prices  at  which 
goods  are  bought  or  sold,  or  limits  output,  or  limits  purchases. 
If  holding  companies  are  subjected  to  proper  governmental 
supervision  I  think  they  will  work  no  harm. 

The  law  should  be  made  clear,  so  that  the  average  business 
man  will  know  what  acts  are  forbidden  and  what  permitted; 
it  should  therefore  define  what  shall  be  considered  "  restraint 
of  trade."  I  think  that  the  regulation  of  capitalization  prop- 
erly belongs  to  the  State.  Undoubtedly  some  action  along  the 
lines  of  publicity  for  commercial  corporations  would  be  bene- 
ficial, but  such  regulation  should  be  made  by  the  States  rather 
than  by  the  Federal  government. 

I  think  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on 
a  large  scale  may  be  had  by  large  combinations  under  Federal 
supervision.  There  should  be,  however,  no  tariff  on  articles  pro- 
duced by  such  large  combinations,  and  the  public  will  thus  be 
protected,  not  only  by  direct  Federal  supervision,  but  by  for- 
eign competition.  No  combinations  with  foreign  manufactur- 
ers or  producers  should  be  allowed,  as  the  economic  savings 
brought  about  by  such  combination  are  a  negligible  quantity, 
and  they  are  purely  for  the  exploitation  of  consumers  and  pri- 
mary producers. 

I  do  not  favor  paternalism,  but  there  should  be  some  gov- 
ernmental body  to  which  business  men  might  appeal  for  authori- 
tative determination  as  to  whether  proposed  acts  are  in  restraint 
of  trade. 

I  would  emphasize  the  one  point,  that  what  we  need  is  som« 
way  of  determining  what  acts  are  unlawful.  Under  the  present 


442 

law  we  cannot  tell  till  suit  is  brought.  We  think  that  99  per 
cent,  of  the  business  men  of  this  country  are  earnestly  endeav- 
oring to  comply  with  the  law  as  far  as  possible,  but  at  present  the 
advice  of  attorneys  is  absoluely  valueless.  We  want  the  law 
made  so  clear  that  everybody  will  be  able  to  judge  for  himself 
as  to  the  lawfulness  or  unlawfulness  of  his  acts.  Especially  in 
view  of  the  fact  that  this  is  a  criminal  statute,  it  ought  to  be  so 
clear  that  there  can  be  no  reasonable  doubt  as  to  the  unlawful 
intent  of  the  man  who  is  convicted  of  violating  its  provisions. 

Horace  P.  Glover,  Attorney-at-Law,  Mifflinburg,  Pa. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to 
( 1 )  the  effort  of  certain  groups  of  men  to  get  an  unearned  share 
of  the  profits  of  business  and  trade;  (2)  the  efforts  of  wage- 
earners  to  prevent  this;  (3)  doubt  as  to  the  immediate  result 
of  the  contest;  (4)  the  intrenchment  of  so  much  large  business 
behind  tariffs  which  are  too  high;  (5)  the  growing  power  of 
organized  labor.  I  do  not  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old 
competitive  methods.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act;  neither  should  combinations  of 
farmers,  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  crops  for  higher  prices, 
be  allowed.  Why  should  there  be  another  commission?  Could 
not  the  scope  and  powers  of  the  present  commission  be  enlarged 
to  deal  with  the  industrial  situation? 

There  are  too  many  middlemen.  Producer  and  consumer 
are  too  far  apart.  I  can  suggest  no  legal  remedy.  I  am  not 
convinced  that  a  holding  company  is  bad  per  se.  They  seem 
to  me  not  necessary  in  any  case,  however,  and  tend  to  restrain 
competition.  Overcapitalization  should  not  be  permitted.  Its 
tendency  is  to  injure  the  creditor  rather  than  the  stockholder. 
I  have  little  actual  faith  in  legislation  for  the  protection  of 
minority  stockholders  and  subsidiary  interests.  If  those  who 
control  forget  the  minority  or  subsidiary  interests  and  design 
to  plunder  them,  it  looks  like  a  condition  without  remedy. 

I  recognize  all  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale;  but  the  consumer  gets  little  benefit  from 
them.  Those  interested  in  the  production  and  distribution  are 
chiefly  enriched.  Exploitation,  unfair  competition  and  restraint 
of  trade  are  the  evils  chiefly  responsible. 

I  am  not  expert  in  these  matters,  though  I  have  read  and 
thought  much  about  them — to  little  purpose.  We  may  be  near 
the  day  when  we  must  choose  between  oppression  by  the  few 
and  paternalism  (government  control,  if  not  ownership)  of  the 
many.  Macaulay  once  predicted  the  day  when  we  should  be  glad 
to  turn  from  the  tyranny  of  the  many  to  the  tyranny  of  fhe  few, 
but  we  shall  have  to  learn  that  the  latter  form  of  tyranny  is, 
after  all,  less  benevolent  than  the  former. 


443 

L.  W.  Tuesburg,  Attorney-at-Law  and  Secretary  Pontiac 
Commercial  Club,  Pontiac,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  reasonably  clear  and  workable.  I  do 
not  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods. 
I  do  not  know  of  any  amendment  that  should  be  made  to  the 
Sherman  Law  except  the  so-called  La  Toilette  amendment,  put- 
ting the  burden  of  proving  reasonableness  on  the  alleged  trust: 
This  will  make  the  law  clearer.  I  cannot  see  any  serious  objec- 
tion to  railroads  being  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  if  the 
rates  do  not  go  into  effect  while  an  appeal  is  pending.  My 
approval  of  a  national  incorporation  law  would  depend  upon 
the  terms;  in  a  limited  way  I  do.  My  position  is  the  same  as 
to  Federal  license.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission 
with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers.  In 
my  judgment,  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the 
uncertainty  of  political  conditions,  particularly  as  to  tariff 
changes. 

I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies  with  no  other  func- 
tion than  to  hold  the  stock  of  other  companies  to  prevent  com- 
petition. I  believe  competitive  and  non-competitive  corpora- 
tions can  and  should  be  discriminated.  The  holding  of  stock 
in  one  company  by  another  should  probably  be  prohibited  to 
competing  concerns  and  others  regulated. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  and  I  am  inclined 
to  believe  that  this  is  the  best  solution  of  the  question  as  a 
whole.  It  may  become  necessary  for  the  government  to  assume 
the  right  to  fix  prices  for  concerns  of  a  monopolistic  nature, 
or  at  least  to  regulate  prices  as  railroad  rates  are  now  regulated. 
If  such  a  commission  were  created,  with  the  power  to  regulate 
commodity  prices  for  all  corporations  which  would  voluntarily 
submit  to  its  jurisdiction,  at  the  same  time  removing  all  re- 
strictions upon  the  consolidation  of  concerns  so  submitting,  and 
permitting  them  to  make  trade  agreements  only  subject  to  the 
supervision  and  control  of  such  commission,  I  believe  that  many 
corporations  would  make  such  voluntary  submission  in  order 
to  secure  freedom  from  prosecution  for  past,  present  and  future 
violations  of  the  Sherman  and  other  anti-trust  laws,  and  I 
believe  that  such  supervision  would  remove  most,  if  not  all,  of 
the  objections  to  combinations  and  trade  agreements  and  at  the 
same  time  permit  the  advantages  of  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  to  be  attained. 

Mark    W.    Sheafe,    Lawyer,    Capitalist    and    Real    Estate, 
Watertown,  S.  D. 

Give  us  a  tariff  for  revenue,  with  incidental  protection,  and 
the  so-called  trusts  or  combinations  will  not  need  to  be  legis- 
lated against.  Give  us  the  world  for  a  market  in  which  to 
buy  as  well  as  sell,  and  let  business  take  care  of  itself. 


444 

Dan  H.  Ball,  Attorney-at-Law,  Marquette,  Mich. 

The  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is  fairly  clear  and 
workable,  but  it  might  be  improved  by  making  it  more  specific. 
It  is  neither  feasible  nor  desirable  to  return  to  old  competitive 
methods.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended,  among  other 
things  by  particularly  specifying  practices  that  are  made  crim- 
inal and  providing  a  commission  to  enforce  the  law,  with  powers 
similar  to  those  of  the  Commerce  Commission.  Eailroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commision.  Trade  unions  should  not 
be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act;  but  trade 
unions  and  other  business  concerns,  individually,  should  be 
allowed  to  agree  on  a  scale  of  prices,  subject  to  approval  by  the 
commission.  Combinations  of  farmers  should  be  subject  to  the 
same  approval. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  and  if  we  do  not  have 
that,  then  I  would  favor  a  Federal  license  law.  I  am  also  in 
favor  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  With  reference  to 
the. holding  company,  I  would  have  been  opposed  to  permitting 
corporations  to  hold  stock  in  other  corporations  in  the  first  place. 
The  large  corporation  should  not  have  the  right  to  control 
smaller  corporations  by  buying  a  majority  of  the  stock.  But  the 
practice  has  been  allowed  to  such  an  extent  that  I  doubt  the 
propriety  of  overturning  it,  at  least  as  to  stocks  already  held. 
A  Federal  incorporation  law,  if  adopted,  should  regulate  capi- 
talization. I  think  regulation  of  corporations  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce  is  far  preferable  to  compelling  them  to  keep  up 
ruinous  competition.  Just  how  this  is  to  be  done  will  require 
careful  study,  but  probably  a  commission  with  powers  similar 
to  those  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  would  be  best 
as  a  part  of  the  plan. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due,  to  some  extent  at  least, 
,to  proceedings  of  the  government  against  so-called  trusts  and  to 
oversensitiveness  of  the  financial  barometer. 

Blewett  Lee,  General   Solicitor,   Illinois  Central    Railroad 
Company,  Chicago,  111. 

I  suspect  that  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  in  part 
to  enforcement  of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act.  I  favor  a  repeal 
of  the  Sherman  Law.  It  is  essentially  destructive  legislation, 
for  which  constructive  legislation  should  be  substituted.  Kail- 
roads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  think  any 
scheme  of  constructive  legislation  should  go  as  far  as  to  give 
a  creative  control  over  prices  of  articles  moving  in  interstate 
commerce  or  foreign  commerce,  similar  to  control  over  railroad 
rates  exercised  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 


445 

H.    M.   Aubrey,    Aubrey   &   King,  Attorney s-at- Law,   San 
Antonio,  Tex. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  so  that  it  may  pre- 
vent such  abuse  of  power  as  would  crush  competition  or  result 
in  excessive  prices.  The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  work- 
able, because  the  interpretation  is  too  largely  left  to  the  courts. 
A  wickedly  foolish  financial  system,  and  the  struggle  for  wealth 
and  power  between  the  financial  controllers  of  the  country,  are 
chiefly  responsible  for  disturbed  business  conditions. 

I  fear  the  centralization  of  power  involved  by  either  Federal 
incorporation  or  Federal  license.  Experience  has  shown  us  that 
it  might  be  easily  possible  for  a  charter  permit  to  be  held  up 
under  various  pretenses  for  an  injurious,  possibly  a  ruinous 
period,  and  the  injured  parties  be  without  remedy.  It  would 
be  comparatively  easy,  and  far  safer,  to  obtain  such  amendments 
to  the  corporation  laws  of  the  various  States  as  to  render  them 
fairly  accordant,  without  stripping  the  State  of  its  power  to 
amend  when  rendered  necessary  by  local  conditions. 

I  favor  such  curtailment  of  the  power  of  the  courts  as  will 
deprive  them  of  the  power  of  making  laws.  I  see  no  objection 
to  one  corporation  holding  stock  in  another,  if  the  corporations 
are  properly  controlled.  The  ownership  is  immaterial,  so  long 
as  the  power  is  not  exercised  injuriously  to  the  interests  of  the 
public. 

Both  unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be 
forbidden  under  such  penalties,  and  with  such  probability  of 
punishment,  as  would  render  the  practices  too  dangerous.  No 
capitalization  should  be  permitted  except  for  full  value  actually 
received  by  the  corporationpmd  that  value  should  be  properly  and 
strictly  proven  to  the  State,  with  penal  punishment  for  fraud. 

The  only  doubt  in  my  mind  regarding  the  correctness  of 
the  claims  of  advantages  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  is  the  following  question:  To  what  extent  will  the  indi- 
vidualistic spirit  be  checked,  discouraged,  rendered  disinclined 
to  do  its  best  work?  Man's  best  work  has  always  been  done 
for  glory,  not  for  money  or  power.  There  is  little  hope  for 
glory,  for  a  widespread  and  high-sounding  name,  held  out  to 
a  corporation  employe.  The  founder  of  a  great  corporation  is 
long  remembered;  the  fame  of  his  successes  is  buried  with  him. 

I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  such 
powers  as  would  deprive  the  States  of  any  now  enjoyed  by  them. 
I  fear  the  centralization  of  power  now  rapidly  and  steadily 
carrying  the  country  toward  Socialism;  and  the  insane  folly 
shown  in  the  conduct  of  the  lords  of  finance  during  the  past 
fifty  years  too  closely  resembles  the  conduct  of  the  French 
nobility  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  to  inspire 
us  with  such  confidence  in  their  future  actions  as  to  render  us 
willing  to  part  with  any  weapon  of  defense  still  possessed  by 
the  individual  State.  That  is  why  I  fear  the  Aldrich  Bill;  it 


446 

looks  good,  very  good,  but  the  reputation  (well-founded)  of 
the  men  behind  it  causes  the  bill  to  bear  a  striking  resemblance 
to  the  wooden  horse  of  Troy. 

Andrew  R.  Sheriff,  Attorney-at-Law,  Chicago,  111. 

.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  by  further  Federal 
legislation,  confining  its  application  to  real  economic  evils,  which 
I  think  are  fully  comprised  by  the  description  "unfair  com- 
petition." Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission.  Trade  unions  should  be  ex- 
cepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  but  they  should 
be  dealt  with  quite  as  drastically  by  legislation  applying  espe- 
cially to  them.  Combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  pro- 
duction or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be  ren- 
dered lawful.  Farmers  are  no  more  entitled  to  corner  or  restrain 
the  market  than  any  other  class  of  citizens,  and  they  should 
be  compelled  to  liberate  their  products  naturally  and  in  the 
usual  course  of  trade,  without  the  protection  of  any  extensive 
combination. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  to  be  available  to  cor- 
porations engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  do  not  see  how 
it  would  be  constitutional  for  other  classes  of  corporations  in 
general. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  distrust  of  the  indi- 
viduals controlling  large  capital  and  corporations,  usually  the 
subjects  of  popular  investment ;  uncertainty  of  government 
policy  in  relation  to  proposed  dissolution  of  corporate  combina- 
tions; widespread  extravagance  and  consequent  impairment  of 
confidence  among  all  classes  having  Imy  surplus  money  or  means 
of  raising  it. 

William  M.  Crockett,  Attorney-at-Law,  La  Fayette,  Ind. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  State  corporations  doing  an 
interstate  business.  Laws  should  be  enacted  to  prevent  corners, 
and  express  statutes  should  deal  with  unfair  competition  and 
restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion. Laws  should  be  enacted  calling  for  publicity  to  be  applied 
to  commercial  corporations ;  or  a  Federal  enactment  similar  to 
the  Kansas  statute,  which  requires  the  State  auditor  to  look 
into  the  affairs  of  companies  proposing  to  market  their  stock 
with  the  public. 

I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission;  competi- 
tion is  sufficient.  As  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale,  I  think  that  such  advantages  could 
exist,  but  do  not  exist.  I  believe  those  doing  business  on  a 
large  scale  are  not  doing  business  in  order  that  these  advantages 
may  obtain.  They  urge  these  possible  advantages  in  order  that 
they  may  not  be  disturbed  in  business  relations  they  no  doubt 
find  highly  profitable. 


447 

Charles   Matteson,   Retired   Chief  Justice   of  the   Supreme 
Court  of  Rhode  Island. 

I  believe  the  evils  charged  against  large  combinations  are  in 
need  of  correction.  It  seems  to  me  that  a  Federal  license  law 
would  be  preferable  to  the  requirement  of  national  incorpora- 
tion for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I  am  of 
opinion  that  the  Sherman  Law  should  remain  as  at  present  until 
the  courts  have  passed  upon  the  questions  that  may  arise  under 
it.  Then,,  if  amendments  are  needed,  they  can  be  made  more 
intelligently.  I  am  most  decidedly  opposed  to  holding  com- 
panies, and  favor  legislation  that  will  prevent  their  existence. 
In  regard  to  unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade,  I  am 
not  in  favor,  as  above  stated,  of  additional  legislation,  until  the 
Sherman  Act  has  been  construed  by  the  courts,  except  perhaps 
the  passage  of  a  law  defining  more  specifically  the  offenses  under 
that  act.  I  favor  laws  providing  for  government  regulation  of 
capitalization,  and  laws  that  would  call  for  publicity  to  be  ap- 
plied to  commercial  corporations  through  a  commission  to  be 
appointed  for  that  purpose. 

I  believe  that  all  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing 
business  on  a  large  scale  exist,  and  that  they  are  advantages  of 
the  greatest  importance.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission writh  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 


Charles  W.  Smith,  Judge,  Stockton,  Kan. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  The  efficiency  of  the  Sherman  Act  should 
be  fully  tested  and,  if  found  inefficient  to  meet  the  situation, 
should  be  made  specific  in  its  prohibitions.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization,  and  publicity  should  be  applied 
to  commercial  corporations.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission, with  powers  not  unlike  those  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

In  addition  to  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  should  be  mentioned  better  opportunity 
for  development  along  the  line  of  special  aptitude  of  workmen, 
and  thus  greater  efficiency  in  individual  workmanship. 

I  think  one  of  the  greatest  demands  is  some  method  of  pre- 
venting overcapitalization  and  the  protection  of  the  rights  of 
stockholders  against  the  acts  of  managing  officers.  The  cor- 
poration, being  created  by  the  State,  should  be  forced  by  law 
to  conduct  its  business  in  such  a  way  as  to  insure  fair  treatment 
of  the  public  and  its  stockholders.  The  law  should  be  specific 
in  its  methods  to  reach  these  results.  If  necessary,  the  viola- 
tion of  the  laws,  enacted  to  reach  these  ends,  should  be  made 
criminal  and  applied  to  the  managing  officers.  The  specific 
manner  of  doing  this  is  a  matter  of  legislative  detail. 


448 

Morris  L.  Johnston,  Lawyer  and  Capitalist,  Chicago  Stock 
Exchange  Building,  Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  and  workable,  but  can  be  made 
more  specific.  Amend  it  so  that  any  combination  of  compet- 
ing concerns  can  be  approved  in  advance  by  the  government; 
then  penalize  criminally  for  a  violation.  While  old  competitive 
methods  are  undesirable,  we  must  have  competition.  Unit 
growth  should  be  encouraged.  Growth  by  combination  should 
be  permitted  only  as  it  is  relative  to  general  growth  of  business. 
1  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license  and  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission. 

The  fundamental  cause  of  disturbed  business  conditions  is 
the  inherent  activity  of  our  people  in  the  development  of  won- 
derful natural  resources,  which  has  produced  both  real  and 
apparent  prosperity.  This  has  led  to  overspending  and  over- 
straining by  individuals  and  corporations,  necessitating  rest 
and  recuperation.  To  this  basic  cause  may  be  traced  most  of  the 
aggravating  effects,  thought  to  be  fundamental  causes,  such  as 
politics,  tariff,  governmental  influences,  etc.  Also  we  are  doing 
business  upon  a  margin  of  surplus  banking  credits,  which  is  so 
small  at  all  times  that  a  period  of  liquidation  to  free  enough 
credits  to  expand  again  is  necessary  more  frequently  than  a 
good  banking  system  would  require.  The  Aldrich  plan  is  a 
step  in  advance,  but  the  composition  and  manner  of  choosing 
its  board  of  directors  is  unsound  financially,  politically  and 
economically,  as  would  so  prove  if  adopted. 

The  political  agitations,  tariff  discussions,  anti-trust  prosecu- 
tions, etc.,  as  well  as  labor  demands,  are,  in  my  young  judg- 
ment, effects  of  our  great  prosperity  and  are  efforts  toward 
advancement  and  progress.  They  should  not  be  changed  only 
regulated  and  supervised,  as  they  are  natural  workings  of  the 
people  toward  better  things.  These  commissions,  which  I  look 
to  see  extended  in  number  and  influence,  are  valuable,  ulti- 
mately, as  a  check  and  regulation  to  our  too  rapid  progress 
which  our  nature  and  resources  would  otherwise  make  inevitable. 
Too  rapid  progress,  unhampered,  would  make  us  morally  retro- 
gressive. 

Aldis  B.  Browne,  Attorney-at-Law,  Washington,  D.  C. 

An  Interstate  Trade  Commission  of  real  men  (not  poli- 
ticians), with  laws  which  rigidly  control  but  as  firmly  protect 
the  corporations,  will  largely  solve  present  difficulties,  in  my 
view.  I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state business.  I  believe  the  present  Sherman  Act  all-sufficient, 
if  properly  enforced,  to  deal  with  the  conditions  it  is  intended 
to  control.  I  believe  in  holding  companies,  if  all  subject  to 
Federal  supervision.  The  government  should  regulate  capitali- 
zation. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  and  publicity 
for  commercial  corporations. 


449 

William  M.  Hall,  Pittsburg,  Pa. 

I  believe  the  large  accumulation*  of  capital  and  the  ease 
and  rapidity  of  concerted  action  due  to  modern  inventions  make 
for  an  enormous  increase  of  combinations  and  of  joint  actions 
to  advance  prices  and  to  speculate  in  the  now  many  necessities 
of  life.  The  principles  and  practice  of  the  common  law  are 
based  on  the  idea  that  the  correction  of  social  ills  arising  out  of 
such  combinations  is  a  judicial  function  of  government.  To 
make  this  correction  an  administrative  or  executive  function, 
with  the  riglit  of  appeal  to  the  judicial  branch  of  the  govern- 
ment, seems  to  be  a  necessary  step,  inviting  trouble,  but  to  avoid 
known  troubles.  Apparently  the  judicial  branch  of  the  govern- 
ment is  not  able  to  cope  with  the  problem.  It  is  too  pressing; 
may  not  be  strictly  judicial.  In  Pennsylvania  the  Supreme 
Court  has  allowed  a  good  deal  of  executive  function  to  be  put 
on  the  Common  Pleas  courts.  The  people  have  a  great  respect 
for  any  rule  or  law  issuing  out  of  courts.  Let  us  hope  that  this 
will  continue  and  that  the  courts  will  not  abuse  this  respect. 
The  civil  service  of  England  and  its  dependent  nations  has  done 
a  great  work  to  show  mankind  that  the  Anglo-Saxon  can  hon- 
estly govern  himself.  Let  us  hope  that  we  can  do  as  much  in 
ill  is  land. 

F  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com  mission  as  an  expedient  for 
trial  and  as  an  effort  to  do  something  to  steady  affairs.  I 
believe  the  Sherman  Law  will  prevent  real  and  substantial 
monopoly  or  actions  feuding  that  wav.  I  believe  that  is  what 
is  meant  by  the  "rule  of  reason."  I  believe  that  decisions  of 
the  Supreme  Court  in  the  last  two  cases  will  be  great  landmarks 
in  the  law. 

J.  C.  Harper,  Attorney-at-Law,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Dissatisfaction  with  the  administration  of  justice  and  with 
the  fact  that  courts,  having  practically  usurped  legislative  as 
well  as  executive  authority,  have  proved  their  inability  to  ad- 
minister business  affairs,  as  witness  conflicting  opinions  in  the 
Tobacco  Trust  reorganization,  account  for  the  present  disturbed 
business  conditions.  I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  doing 
interstate  business.  Congress,  under  its  power  to  regulate  inter- 
state commerce,  can  prescribe  the  conditions  under  which  cor- 
porations may  engage  in  interstate  business  and  can,  by  visitorial 
power,  compel  obedience.  The  Sherman  Act  should  be  made 
more  specific  and  should  require  publicity.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization. 

There  are  advantages  in  doing  business  on  a  large  scale 
and  in  the  corporate  form,  and  the  public  are  entitled  to  share 
those  advantage.-.  Therefore  "watering"  of  capital  should  be 
prevented  and  income  limited.  It  would  be  advantageous  to 
permit  im-rea-r  of  income  for  certain  definite  public  gain- — if 
practicable  along  Bo<lon  Ga<  Franchise  lines — lower  prices, 
higher  dividend. 


450 

Stephen  H.  Allen,  Attorney-at-Law,  Topeka,  Kan. 

The  efficient  remedy  for  preventing  monopoly  is  to  take  the 
management  of  the  vicious  combinations  out  of  the  hands  of 
the  men  who  are  responsible  for  their  misdeeds.  The  convic- 
tion of  the  corporation  should  be  a  sufficient  conviction  of  the 
directors  and  officers  of  it  to  require  their  removal  from  office. 
The  head  of  a  corporation  or  combination  is  always  the  guilty 
party,  and  his  punishment  should  be  not  a  fine,  but  loss  of 
power  to  repeat  his  offense.  All  the  advantages  claimed  for 
those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  are  true  generally,  as 
applied  to  business  carried  on  under  substantially  uniform  con- 
ditions as  to  details  of  operation,  such  as  transportation,  manu- 
facturing requiring  costly  plants,  mining  under  conditions 
requiring  costly  machinery  or  other  great  outlay  of  money. 
They  are  not  true  generally,  as  applied  to  agriculture  or  any 
other  business  calling  for  economy  and  intelligent  management 
of  small  affairs  under  a  great  diversity  of  changing  conditions. 

I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate 
business.  Uniform  State  incorporation  laws  are  preferable  to 
Federal.  Federal  licenses  should  not  override  reasonable  State 
requirements,  but  the  Federal  law  should  provide  for  financial 
statements  and  submission  to  local  courts  in  each  State.  Legis- 
lation ought  to  be  enacted  in  addition  to  the  Sherman  Anti- 
Trust  Act,  providing  for  the  removal  of  officers  and  directors 
of  corporations  violating  the  Act,  and  the  election  of  new 
officers  and  boards.  The  government  should  regulate  capitali- 
zation. 

Ralph  R.  Lounsbury,  Attorney-at-Law,  Chicago,  111. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed,  and  in  its  place  a 
law  enacted  forbidding  specific  practices,  so  that  a  business 
man  may  not  first  have  to  get  himself  indicted  before  he  knows 
exactly  what  he  can  do,  and  what  he  cannot  do,  under  the  law. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce,  with  powers  of  visitation,  by  Federal  offi- 
cials, similar  to  that  of  the  comptroller  of  the  currency  and 
bank  examiners  over  national  banks. 

The  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  certainly  do  exist — for  the  trust — and  should  be  encour- 
aged. I  believe  in  the  trust  principle,  or  trust  method,  of  doing 
business  because  it  is  the  economical  method.  I  see  nothing 
harmful  in  mere  combination,  per  se.  However,  the  public 
should  have  some  of  the  benefits  of  the  economies  effected. 

I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  un- 
like those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission 
in  relation  to  common  carriers;  and  combinations,  or  mergers, 
should  be  permited,  under  proper  regulation,  of  course.  Legis- 
lation should  be  directed  towards  preventing,  or  regulating,  the 
evils  of.  or  possibilities  for  evil  in,  the  combination — not  pre- 
venting the  combination  itself. 


451 

E.  W.  Browne,  Attorney-at-Law  and  President  of  Shreve- 
port  Bar  Association,  Shreveport,  La. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  various  causes — 
prosecution  of  the  trusts;  the  presidential  election  of  1912;  the 
retrenchment  policy  adopted  by  railroads;  unrest  and  dissatis- 
faction among  the  masses.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
amended  by  adding  a  penal  clause,  instead  of  punishment  by 
fines  only.  I  favor  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing 
an  interstate  business.  I  am  opposed  to  holding  companies.  I 
prefer  competition,  but  it  is  questionable  whether  the  old  com- 
petitive methods  could  be  restored  or,  if  restored,  would  be  de- 
sirable. The  government  should  regulate  capitalization  of  con- 
cerns doing  an  interstate  business  and  should  provide  for  pub- 
licity for  commercial  corporations.  I  don't  believe  that  the 
advantages  enumerated  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale, 
if  they  do  exist,  compensate  for  the  evils  of  vast  industrial  com- 
binations. Some  of  these  evils  are  restriction  of  individual 
effort;  also  power  on  the  part  of  the  corporate  combinations  to 
control  prices.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  in  the 
event  that  large  aggregations  of  capital  cannot  be  dealt  with 
under  proper  legislation. 

Charles  W.  Moores,  Attorney-at-Law,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate 
business.  I  am  opposed  to  holding  companies.  Capitalization 
should  be  regulated  by  the  States.  Would  Federal  regulation 
be  constitutional?  I  favor  laws  that  would  provide  for  a  proper 
degree  of  publicity  for  commercial  corporations.  Kegarding 
the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale,  I  doubt  whether  steadier  employment  of  labor — and  at 
better  wages — and  better  protection  against  industrial  accidents 
are  effected  by  the  so-called  "  trusts."  The  powers  of  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission,  if  created  at  all,  should  be  restrictive 
rather  than  permissive.  I  favor  the  Sherman  Law,  and  be- 
lieve it  should  be  enforced. 

Murry  Nelson,  Jr.,  Attorney-at-Law,   Chicago,  111. 

I  do  not  believe  in  restrictive  legislation — i.  e.,  I  do  not 
believe  in  sumptuary  laws  or  usury  laws.  I  also  do  not  believe 
in  a  protective  tariff,  nor  in  government  by  injunction  or  pro- 
hibition against  picketing.  I  am  not  an  anarchist,  and  for  that 
reason  I  believe  it  very  important  to  enforce  laws  and  not  have 
laws  which  cannot  be  enforced.  For  my  part,  I  know  of  no 
"  trust "  which  has  been  evil  merely  because  it  is  big,  and  most 
of  the  "  trusts "  are  good  which  have  not  some  special  privi- 
lege or  exemption  created  by  law.  I  think  if  the  duty  were 
taken  off  iron  and  its  manufactures,  there  would  be  no  com- 
plaint from  the  consumer,  even  though  the  capital  of  theL^nited 
States  Steel  Corporation  were  doubled,  which  it  would  not  be. 


452 

Charles  E.  Shepard,  Attorney-at-Law,  Seattle,  Wash. 

I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  In  connection  with  the  question  relating  to  restraint 
of  trade,,  I  favor  a  Federal  statute  compelling  sale  or  use  of 
patents,  under  penalty  of  revocation.  The  Federal  government 
should  regulate  capitalization  as  to  interstate  corporations,  and 
a  uniform  State  law  should  regulate  as  to  intrastatc  corpora- 
tions. 

I  favor  adequate  protection  of  minority  stockholders,  their 
fraudulent  exploitation  by  the  ""  control  "  being  one  of  the  worst 
corporate  evils  of  the  day.  But  I  am  not  now  prepared  to  ap- 
prove any  new  Federal  commissions.  I  think  the  remedy  is 
rather  to  be  found  in  brief  and  plain  statutes,  giving  .speedy  and 
drastic  remedies,  vigorously  enforced  by  competent  and  courage- 
ous courts.  Let  us  have  less  government  by  commissions  and 
more  by  courts. 

To  a  certain  extent  of  "bigness/'  not  yet  fully  determined 
by  experience,  all  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale — some  more,  some  less — do  inhere  in  ei  big 
business."  The  wrong  is  not  in  size,  but  in  the  immoral  uses 
made  of  the  power  which  size  confers.  The  evils  and  the  prob- 
lems are  moral,  not  material,  and  should  be  studied  from  that 
standpoint. 

E.  Clarence  Aiken,  Attorney-at-Law,  Auburn,  N.  Y. 

Lack  of  confidence,  occasioned  by  enforcement  of  the  Sher- 
man Law,  has  caused  anxiety  and  uncertainty  among  business 
men.  The  Sherman  Law  cannot  be  regarded  as  clear  and  work- 
able and  cannot  be  enforced  without  injury  to  legitimate  busi- 
ness. I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  and  the  enactment 
of  a  law  making  criminal  certain  specified  practices.  Kailroads 
should  bo  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade 
unions  should  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman 
Law,  and  combinations  of  farmers,  to  secure  fair  prices  for  pro- 
ductions, ought  to  be  permitted.  T  favor  Federal  license  and 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

H.  B.  Anderson,  Attorney-at-Law,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

Where  there  is  neither  fraud  contemplated  against  investors 
nor  oppression  against  the  public,  merger  of  corporations  and 
trade  agreements  should  be  permitted  as  a  matter  of  course. 
Fraud  and  oppression  should  be  the  two  questions  looked  into 
by  the  regulating  authorities.  Modern  machinery  makes  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale,  under  one  management,  inevitable. 

I  favor  Federal  license,  provided  national  presidential  poli- 
tics be  kept  out.  I  believe  in  government  regulation  and  in 
publicity.  Under  proper  supervision  holding  companies  are  a 
needed  modern  convenience. 


453 

C.  S.  Thomas,  Attorney-at-Law,  Denver,  Col. 

I  favor  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  Let  each  State  make  and  enforce  its  own  laws  deal- 
ing with  foreign  corporations  doing  business  within  its  bounds, 
without  any  Federal  interference. 

I  do  not  regard  the  Sherman  La\v  as  clear  and  workable. 
The  courts  are  now  the  arbiters  of  business  and  have  assumed 
the  right  to  determine  each  combination  on  its  own  merits.  The 
Sherman  Law  should  either  be  repealed  or  radically  amended. 
I  believe  that  Mr.  Samuel  Untermyer  has  outlined  the  course 
which  legislation  should  take  upon  this  subject.  I  would  favor 
an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  provided  it  could  be  free  from 
the  interference  of  the  courts.  Disturbed  business  conditions 
are  due,  in  my  judgment,  to  many  causes.  Those  which  inevi- 
tably bring  about  business  reaction  from  active  times  predomi- 
nate. The  pendulum  must  swing  as  far  on  one  side  as  it  swung 
on  the  other. 

Will  J.  Watson,  Attorney-at-Law,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an 
interstate  business.  State  legislatures  have  been  just  about  as 
great  competitors  in  the  proposed  methods  of  incorporation  as 
the  average  corporation  themselves.  This  should  not  be  per- 
mitted. The  government  should  grant  all  charters  for  inter- 
state corporations.  I  am  not  opposed  to  holding  companies, 
but  think  they  should  be  controlled  by  national  legislation  or  a 
strict  enforcement  of  existing  laws.  I  favor  government  regula- 
tion of  capitalization,  publicity  for  commercial  corporations 
and  an  interstate  Trade  Commission.  On  the  subject  of  "  better 
protection  against  industrial  accidents,"  one  of  the  advantages 
claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  there  should 
be  national  legislation  requiring  the  defense  of  contributory 
negligence  to  be  specifically  pleaded  to  make  it  available  in 
interstate  railway  cases. 

Joseph  Hansell  Merrill,  Attorney-at-Law  and  ex-Judge  of 
Circuit  Court,  Thomasville,  Ga. 

Real  value  of  all  stocks,  for  all  bonds,  honesty,  publicity, 
and  only  a  revenue  tariff  on  articles  competing  with  the  large, 
strong  corporations,  are  the  great  needs  of  the  country  to-day. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  busi- 
ni'ss,  and  the  arousing  of  the  States  to  their  duty.  Unfair  com- 
petition and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with  by  laws 
forbidding  specified  practices.  Put  in  what  we  know  are  bad 
now  and  add  to  them  as  experience  prompts. 

Admitting  that  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale  are  all  real,  the  only  danger  is  to  deter 
individual  effort,  personal  initiative,  which  is  the  best  char- 
acteristic of  the  Anglo-Saxon. 


454 

Robert  E.  Huff,  Attorney-at-Law,  Wichita  Falls,  Tex. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  as  clear  and 
workable,  and  I  am  not  in  favor  of  amending  it.  I  consider  it 
feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods  in  business.  Bail- 
roads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  if  the  agreements  are  reasonable.  Trade 
unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sher- 
man Act.  Farmers  should  be  permitted  to  combine,  if  necessary, 
to  secure  fair  prices  for  their  products. 

I  am  not  in  favor  of  either  national  incorporation  or  Fed- 
eral license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate  commerce.  I 
think  the  United  States  government  has  too  much  power  now. 
Unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  should  be  dealt  with 
by  statutes  expressly  forbidding  specific  practices.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization;  corporations  of  over 
$100,000,000  should  be  prohibited.  I  favor  laws  for  the  protec- 
tion of  minority  stockholders  and  to  prevent  the  exploitation  of 
investors. 

Frederick  F.  Faville,  Attorney-at-Law,  Storm  Lake,  Iowa. 

I  favor  a  Federal  incorporation  act  by  which  the  government 
will  have  the  power  to  ascertain  the  true  conditions  of  corpora- 
tions engaged  in  interstate  business;  to  ascertain  the  truth  as 
to  overcapitalization,  etc.,  and  to  ascertain  the  facts  as  to  earn- 
ings on  a  true  basis  of  value.  While  admitting  the  advantages 
claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  still  the  "  busi- 
ness on  a  large  scale"  should  be  under  Federal  supervision. 
Whether  national  incorporation  or  Federal  license  is  adopted, 
there  must  be  a  system  of  Federal  supervision  and  publicity  as 
to  true  values  of  corporate  stocks.  I  favor  increased  penalties 
under  the  Sherman  Act  and  special  statutes  prohibiting  certain 
definite  practices.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion and  provide  for  publicity  applied  to  commercial  corpora- 
tions. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Ike  W.  Crabtree,  Attorney-at-Law,  Memphis,  Tenn. 

I  am  opposed  to  large  aggregations  of  capital  under  one  con- 
trol, except  such  as  may  be  the  natural  and  legitimate  increase 
incident  to  the  operations  of  a  single  business  or  enterprise. 
Mergers  are  dangerous  to  the  people  and  should  not  be  allowed. 
Public  control  of  production  and  prices  is  much  to  be  desired. 
Under  proper  legislation  it  can  be  had. 

I  prefer  national  incorporation  under  laws  giving  the  Fed- 
eral or  National  Government  absolute  power  to  regulate. 

State  legislatures  are  more  susceptible  of  domination  by 
the  "  interests "  than  Congress ;  and  the  Congress  is  made  up 
of  higher  class  men  than  legislatures,  so  that  the  people  get 
better  service  from  Congress  than  from  their  own  legislatures. 


455 

Jonathan  Taylor,  City  Solicitor,  Akron,  Ohio. 

My  judgment  is  that  there  is  needed,  not  so  much  additional 
legislation,  as  the  maintenance  in  office  of  good  men  devoted 
to  the  interests  of  the  State  as  a  whole,  rather  than  to  the  inter- 
ests of  individuals.  In  short,  we  need  less  legislation  and  more 
enforcement  of  existing  laws. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  in  interstate  business, 
additional  legislation  supplementing  the  Sherman  Act  and  im- 
posing jail  sentences  upon  its  violators.  The  government  should 
regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  enacted  calling  for 
publicity  applied  to  commercial  corporations.  I  favor  an  Inter- 
state Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  en- 
joyed by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to 
common  carriers.  In  regard  to  advantages  claimed  for  those 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale,  I  question  the  claim  of  steadier 
employment  and  at  better  wages ;  I  also  doubt  better  protection 
against  accidents. 

Cecil  Barnes,  Attorney-at-Law,   Miller,  Starr,  Packard  & 
Peckham,  Chicago,  111. 

The  uncertainty  as  to  how  much  regulation  the  "trusts" 
will  finally  be  subjected  to  and  as  to  what  combination  is  law- 
ful under  the  present  laws  is  largely  responsible,  in  my  judg- 
ment, for  disturbed  business  conditions.  So  far  as  the  amount 
of  regulation  of  large  corporations  goes,  I  should  favor  more 
regulation  than  is  now  attempted,  but  along  other  lines.  I  am 
against  the  Sherman  Act  not  as  too  radical,  but  as  at  once  unfair 
to  capital  and  not  radical  enough  to  really  protect  the  rest  of 
the  community.  I  favor  national  incorporation,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  repealed,  provided  other  regulation  be  substituted.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade 
unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sher- 
man Act.  Combinations  of  farmers  should  be  permitted  under 
proper  restrictions. 

Everett  W.  Pattison,  Attorney-at-Law,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

In  my  opinion,  combinations  have  come  to  stay.  Further- 
more, I  don't  believe  that  business  methods  can  be  eradicated 
by  legislation.  Some  way  will  ultimately  be  found  by  such 
combinations  to  evade  the  most  carefully  worded  laws  and  the 
most  stringent  provisions  of  such  laws.  Publicity,  control,  super- 
vision— in  that  direction  lies  the  remedy  for  the  evils  of  com- 
bination. In  my  opinion,  the  advantages  claimed  for  those 
doing  business  on  a  large  scale  are  probably  all  valid,  and  should 
not  be  lightly  rejected.  I  believe  they  may  all  be  retained 
through  proper  governmental  control.  I  am  in  favor  of  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  know  of  no  better  way  in 
which  the  government  can  exercise  the  necessary  control. 


456 

C.  P.  Black,  Attorney-at-Law,  Lansing,  Mich. 

While  I  believe  there  should  be  laws  enacted  to  prevent  the 
strong  from  oppressing  the  weak,  1  still  believe  there  is  great 
danger  in  the  enactment  of  statutes  until  it  is  generally  de- 
manded that  such  statutes  should  be  enacted.  In  all  hasty  legis- 
lation we  find  that  the  ones  for  whom  such  legislation  is 
intended  usually  are  left  outside  the  breastworks. 

I  certainly  -do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 
No  commission  can  ever  overcome  the  law  of  gravitation,  nor 
can  they  regulate  prices  for  the  benefit  of  "  all  the  people."  I 
would  prefer,  if  necessary,  that  corporations  doing  interstate 
business  should  take  out  a  Federal  license,  but  I  am  opposed 
to  Federal  incorporation.  I  do  not  believe  in  holding  companies, 
as  the  inevitable  result  is  to  give  some  one  an  unfair  advantage. 
I  am  opposed  to  every  species  of  combination  which  may  result 
in  a  monopoly. 

John  S.  Sheppard,  Jr.,  Lawyer,  26  Liberty  Street,  New  York 
City. 

Business  disturbance  is  due  principally  to  the  great  dis- 
turbance of  credit  necessarily  incident  to  continuous  govern- 
mental attack  on  what  has  come  to  be  regarded  as  the  only 
feasible  method  of  doing  business,  i.  e.,  combination. 

The  history  of  all  attempts  to  make  or  stop  competition 
by  governmental  mandate,  seems  to  demonstrate  conclusively 
the  futility  of  any  such  effort.  Moreover,  the  competitive  sys- 
tem has  not  produced  good  results  where  it  has  thriven  nat- 
urally. The  natural  current  being  now  against  that  system 
and  toward  combination,  we  should  allow  the  combinations. 
1 T  we  do  allow  them,  we  must  see  to  it  that  their  tremendous 
power  is  not  abused.  The  only  method  of  accomplishing  that 
socms  to  me  to  be  Federal  regulation  as  suggested  in  Question 
10,  notwithstanding  the  enormous  strain  added  to  our  already 
overworked  Federal  government. 

Edgar    Watkins,    Lawyer,    not     employed    by     any   trust, 
Atlanta,  Ga. 

The  so-called  trusts  are  but  the  result  of  an  economic  desire 
and  necessity  to  reduce  cost.  These  organizations  have  reduced 
cost  to  themselves,  and  sometimes  to  the  public;  but  they  have 
gained  great  power  which  they  have  frequently  abused,  to  the 
injury  of  their  legitimate  competitors  and  the  public.  Let  us 
retain  the  economic  advantage  and  prevent  the  injury.  I  favor 
a  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  an  interstate  busi- 
ness and  national  regulation  by  a  commission.  Transportation 
corporations  should  have  no  interest  in  anything  but  transporta- 
tion. Holding  companies  for  industrial  or  mercantile  corpora- 
tion?, with  proper  regulation,  would  not  be  objectionable. 


457 

Herbert  L.  Satterlee,  Lawyer  and  Manufacturer,  120  Broad- 
way, New  York  City. 

In  your  judgment,  what  caused  or  causes  the  present  dis- 
turbed business  conditions? 

The  lack  of  intelligence  or  honesty,  or  both,  with  which  a 
majority  of  the  newspapers  of  the  country  have  presented  busi- 
ness questions  to  the  people,  thus  creating  a  public  opinion, 
which  has  influenced  men  in  political  life  during  the  past  ten 
years.  The  modern  business  corporation  is  as  much  a  necessary 
product  of  20th  century  development  as  the  20-story  building 
— 20  separate  one  story  buildings  would  mean  high  rents. 

Business  associations  are  at  present  the  only  ones  penalized. 

There  is  already  too  great  a  tendency  to  increase  governmen- 
tal control  and  create  artificial  limitations  to  trade. 

C.  A.  Miller,  Attorney-at-Law,  Bolivar,  Tenn. 

I  think  the  greatest  mistake  our  government  has  made  since 
its  inception  is  allowing  private  or  corporate  ownership  of  the1 
railroads,  telephones  and  telegraphs.  The  United  States  Con- 
stitution, article  I,  section  8,  sub-section  7,  gives  Congress 
power  over  post-offices  and  post-roads.  I  think  that  it  was 
intended  by  the  fathers  of  this  republic  that  the  post-roads 
should  belong  to  the  government,  and  the  railroads  are  the  mod- 
ern post-roads.  Therefore  it  would  have  been  best  for  the  gov- 
ernment to  have  owned  the  same.  But  inasmuch  as  the  other 
is  now  a  fixed  policy,  I  am  opposed  to  hampering  the  free 
exercise  of  franchises,  on  the  principle  that  the  least  of  statutory 
government  is  the  best  for  business,  as  well  as  for  the  people. 
I  am  opposed  to  any  further  extension  of  bureaucracy. 

Nelson  W.  Evans,  Attorney-at-Law,  Portsmouth,  Ohio. 

I  favor  national -incorporation  for  companies  doing  interstate 
business.  I  am  opposed  to  holding  companies.  Congress  should 
enact  laws  providing  for  government  regulation  of  capitaliza- 
tion and  also  for  publicity  as  applied  to  commercial  corporations 
through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for  that  purpose.  I  favor 
allowing  all  manner  of  combinations  and  regulating  them  as  in 
Canada.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates,  and  I  see  no  objection  to  combinations  on  the 
part  of  farmers,  if  regulated.  '  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law,  Federal  license  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Charles  M.  Wilson,  Attorney-at-Law,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  At  the  same  time  I  suggest  that  if  the  Commission 
on  Uniform  State  Laws  would  take  up  the  subject  of  a  uniform 
incorporation  act,  something  might  be  accomplished.  I  am 
opposed  to  holding  companies.  Each  State  should  regulate 
capitalization.  I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commis- 
sion. 


45S 

William    Edenborn,    Louisiana    Railway    and    Navigation 
Company,  Shreveport,  La. 

I  prefer  a  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate 
business.  As  State  and  interstate  commerce  is  interdependent, 
the  Federal  law  should  require  State  railroad  commissions  io 
obtain  approval  from  the  Interstate  Commission  of  proposed 
changes  in  rates.  Where  over  40  per  cent,  of  a  raw  material 
is  under  one  control,  the  price  of  its  product  should  be  fixed 
by  the  Commerce  Court.  I  favor  laws  preventing  holding  com- 
panies, or  that  holding  companies  sell  at  prices  fixed  by  the 
Commerce  Court.  The  government  should  regulate  capitaliza- 
tion, but  with  a  liberal  construction  toward  new  enterprises. 

R.  H.  Sansom,  Attorney-at-Law,  Knoxville,  Tenn. 

I  do  not  favor  Federal  legislation,  when  possibly  avoidable, 
on  subjects  adequately  controllable  by  uniform  State  legislation. 
Xor  do  I  favor  commissions  where  possibly  avoidable.  These 
matters,  where  possibly  within  the  bounds  of  practical  accom- 
plishment, should  be  left  where — in  my  judgment — they  properly 
J3elong,  with  the  legislative  and  judicial  departments  of  govern- 
ment for  enactment,  construction  and  enforcement. 

I  am  impressed  with  the  feasibility  of  a  uniform  incorpora- 
tion act  by  all  the  States,  broad  enough  and  strong  enough  to 
afford  ample  remedy  for  the  correction  of  evils  now  existing. 

J.  Walter  Lord,  Keech,  Wright  &  Lord,  Lawyers,  Balti- 
more, Md. 

I  regard  the  holding  company  as  an  essential  factor  in  indus- 
trial development.  The  evils  incidental  to  holding  companies 
could,  I  think,  be  prevented  by  subjecting  companies  owning 
stock  in  a  company  doing  interstate  trade  to  the  supervision 
and  control  of  a  commission  like  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission. I  would  favor  express  prohibition  of  specified  prac- 
tices amounting  to  unfair  competition,  but  not  restraint  of  trade. 
I  think  the  courts  afford  sufficient  protection  to  minority  inter- 
ests. 

John  W.   Green,  Attorney-at-Law,   Knoxville,  Tenn. 

The  States  have  demonstrated,  by  their  legislation  and  by 
their  non-enforcement  of  such  legislation  as  they  have,  their 
inability  to  properly  control  and  regulate  big  corporations.  It 
is  as  necessary  to  regulate  these  powerful  interests  as  it  is  to 
regulate  railroads,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  would 
seem  to  be  the  proper  method.  I  favor  Federal  incorporation 
and  publicity  for  companies  doing  an  interstate  business.  The 
government  should  regulate  capitalization  and  should  provide 
adequate  protection  for  minority  stockholders  of  interstate  cor- 
porations. 


459 

Allen  Hollis,  Attorney-at-Law,  Concord,  N.  H. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  clear  but  not  workable,  so  far  as  pre- 
venting or  correcting  the  trust  evil.  The  Sherman  Law  should 
be  amended  to  define  unlawful  acts  and,  if  possible,  to  provide 
for  conviction  of  individual  violators.  Trade  unions  should  be 
excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  but  should  be 
restricted  by  some  similar  law.  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law 
for  regulation  purposes,  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 
if  made  up  of  uncontrolled  men.  Political  agitation,  and 
anxiety  about  the  tariff,  has  caused  an  unsettled  feeling  among 
business  men. 

Marquis   Eaton,  Attorney-at-Law,   Chicago,  111. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  interstate  business.  As  to  hold- 
ing companies,  I  do  not  believe  in  incorporation  for  the  sole 
purpose  of  holding  the  stocks  of  other  companies,  but  the  inci- 
dental power  to  hold  stocks  should  not  be  denied  to  corporations. 
]  prefer  the  Sherman  Law,  as  recently  interpreted,  for  dealing 
with  unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization,  but  along  broad  lines.  Pub- 
licity should  be  applied  to  commercial  corporations  through  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Hollis  R.  Bailey,  Attorney-at-Law,  Boston,  Mass. 

AY  hen  corporations  become  very  large  the  public  welfare  de- 
mands that  they  be  under  government  control.  I  favor  national 
incorporation  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  am  op- 
posed to  holding  companies.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be 
repealed,  and  legislation  should  be  enacted  providing  for  gov- 
ernment regulation.  The  government  should  regulate  capitali- 
zation, and  publicity  should  be  applied  to  commercial  corpora- 
tions. 

Charles  L.  Jewell,  Attorney-at-Law,  New  Albany,  Ind. 

I  favor  Federal  legislation  for  companies  doing  interstate 
business.  I  am  opposed  to  holding  companies.  The  government 
should  regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  passed  call- 
ing for  publicity  for  commercial  corporations.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  regard  the  Sherman  Anti- 
Trust  Act  as  adequate  to  deal  with  unfair  competition  and 
restraint  of  trade. 

Tom  J.  McGrath,  Lawyer,  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

I  favor  Federal  supervision,  which  will  adequately  control 
the  actions  of  corporations  doing  an  interstate  business.  If 
not  repealed,  the  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  to  obviate 
the  possibility  of  usurpation  of  legislative  powers  by  the  judi- 
f-iar}r.  Uncertainties  in  the  laAv  are  the  causes  of  any  existing 
disturbance. 


400 

Charles  H.  Hamill,  Attorney-at-Law,  Rosenthal  &  Hamill, 
Chicago,  111. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  arrested  inflation; 
an  unwise  currency  system;  extravagant  living.  The  Sherman 
Law  has  not  been  made  clear  and  workable,  and  I  favor  its 
repeal.  If  the  Sherman  Law  is  to  be  amended,  combinations 
should  be  allowed,  with  only  enough  governmental  regulation 
to  prevent  gross  abuse  of  the  power  of  great  capital.  How  this 
is  to  be  done  I  am  the  only  man  who  does  not  know.  Eailroads 
should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I 
favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  but  not  an  Interstate  Trado 
Commission. 

Dwight  Lawrence,  Lawyer,  Chicago,  111. 

A  widespread  feeling  throughout  the  country  that  before 
any  sound  basis  can  be  reached  an  extensive  and  radical  re- 
vision of  the  tariff  downward  must  be  effected,  also  an  exact 
definition,  either  by  Congress  or  the  courts,  of  the  rights  of 
individuals  and  corporations  to  unite  to  avoid  ruinous  condi- 
tions, keeps  business  in  an  unsettled  state.  Whether  these 
definitions  would  be  wise  and  proper,  would  not  be  of -as  much 
importance  as  that  they  shall  be  established  with  as  little  delay 
as  possible,  and  with  the  maximum  precision. 

Joseph  H.  Defrees,  Lawyer,  Chicago. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  a  feeling  of  un- 
certainty both  on  the  part  of  large  concerns  engaged  in  inter- 
state commerce  and  of  the  public,  including  the  public's  rep- 
resentatives, as  to  their  respective  rights  and  duties  under  the 
Sherman  Law.  This  brings  fear  to  business,  which  is  aided, 
owing  to  our  wretched  currency  system,  by  keen  recollection 
of  the  helplessness  of  business  in  times  of  financial  panic. 

T.  P.  Warlow,  Attorney-at-Law,  Orlando,  Fla. 

Laws,  no  matter  how  good,  will  never  work  as  they  should 
until  we  have  judges  who  are  as  tender  of  the  rights  of  humanity 
as  they  are  of  moneyed  interests.  We  have  no  evidence  down 
here  of  disturbed  business  conditions.  Of  course  the  uncertainty 
of  the  application  of  the  Sherman  Law  to  big  interests  is  un 
.settling.  I  favor  a  Federal  license  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission. 

J.  C.  Hutchins,  Law  Offices,  Hutchins  &   Baird,  Chicago, 
111. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  by  defining  the  par- 
ticular things  which  constitute  undue  restraint  of  trade,  and 
by  providing  whether  or  not  there  is  any  limit  on  the  propor- 
tion of  the  total  business  in  any  line  which  a  concern  may  do, 
or  on  the  growth  or  "size  of  an  organization. 


40  L 

C.  W.  Dillon,  Lawyer,  Fayetteville,  W.  Va. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  powers  of  big  corporations  and  over- 
conservatism  following  a  wild  period  of  speculation,  during 
which  speculators  and  promoters  strained  their  credit  and  many 
men  tried  to  get  rich  on  borrowed  capital,  accounts  sufficiently 
for  any  present  disturbance  in  business.  Less  radicalism  in  all 
our  legislation  would  be  better  for  the  country.  The  Sherman 
Law  should  be  amended  to  -make  violations  more  definite  and 
specific,  and  should  only  prohibit  unreasonable  restraint  of 
trade. 

H.   G.  Wagner,   Lawyer,   Temple,  Texas. 

Concentration  of  wealth;  stock  gambling;  trusts  and  monop- 
olies are  the  causes  of  business  disquietude.  There  should  be  a 
law  confining  anyone  in  the  penitentiary,  let  it  be  one  or  more, 
who  combine  their  wealth  for  the  purpose  of  restraining  trade. 
There  should  be  more  strict  compulsory  educational  laws;  also 
laws  against  child  labor;  there  should  be  a  limit  to  the  number 
of  acres  that  one  man  could  own;  also  be  a  limit  to  a  man's 
wealth,  but  it  should  not  prohibit  him  from  making  more  than 
the  limit  if  he  so  desired. 

Clarence  A.  Burley,  Lawyer,  Chicago,  111. 

For  a  number  of  years  past  more  ways  of  investing  money 
have  been  offered  than  ever  before,  and  more  stocks,  bonds,  etc., 
have  been  offered  than  the  annual  fund  for  investments  could 
take.  Some  retrenchment  is  necessary  in  governmental,  mu- 
nicipal and  all  other  expense,  until  the  world's  fund  for  invest- 
ment overtakes  the  cost  of  enterprises  already  started.  Busi- 
ness disturbance  is  due  partly  to  governmental  interference, 
partly  overproduction,  but  mostly  excessive  borrowings  for  mu- 
nicipal and  corporate  undertakings. 

William    Dillon,    Lawyer,    Dean    of    Law    Department    of 
Loyola  University,  Chicago,  111. 

I  favor  the  Federal  license  plan  for  companies  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce.  There  should  be  additional  legislation, 
defining  what  corporations  may  and  may  not  do.  I  favor  laws 
to  prevent  one  company  from  holding  stock  in  another  company. 
I  favor,  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  with  powers  not  unlike 
those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission  in 
relation  to  common  carriers. 

Duff  Merrick,  Merrick  &  Barnard,  Attorneys-at-Law,  Ashe- 
ville,  N.  C. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  now  interpreted  as  clear  and 
workable,  and  I  consider  that  a  return  to  old  competitive 
methods  in  business  is  feasible.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law  and  Federal  license. 


Alex.  W.  Smith,  Lawyer,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Unrestrained  competition  has  given  way  to  combination  and 
co-ordinate  effort.  The  problem  is  to  regulate  combination  so 
as  to  encourage  co-ordinate  effort,  but  require  a  fair  division  of 
the  fruits  thereof  to  all  concerned. 

This  republic  never  confronted  a  more  serious  crisis  than 
present  business  conditions  present.  It  will  require  the  best 
brains  and  truest  patriotism  at  our  command  to  readjust  our 
constitutional  limitations  to  the  incredible  expansion  of  civiliza- 
tion,, following  the  subjugation  of  steam  and  electricity. 

W.  R.  Hammond,  Lawyer  and  ex-Judge  of  Superior  Court, 
Atlanta,  Ga. 

I  prefer  a  national  incorporation  for  companies  doing  inter- 
state commerce.  I  think  that  to  require  national  incorporation 
the  company  should  have  at  least  a  million  dollars  capital  stock. 
I  am  emphatically  opposed  to  holding  companies.  The  govern- 
ment should  regulate  capitalization.  I  think  a  wise  and  prudent 
regulation  would  do  good.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

George  S.  Payson,  Counselor-at-Law,  Western  Railroad  As- 
sociation, Chicago,  111. 

Uncertainty  as  to  what  "  big  business  "  can  lawfully  do  and 
threats  of  almost  universal  prosecution  of  a  general  character 
are  the  causes  of  disturbed  business  conditions.  I  favor  a  repeal 
of  the  Sherman  Law,  and  believe  that  railroads  should  be 
allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  am  not  in 
favor  of  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

Walter  S.  Penfield,  Penfield  &  Penfield,  Attorneys-at-Law, 
Washington,  D.  C. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  interstate  busi- 
ness, because  it  will  secure  better  control  of  all  corporations.  I 
am  opposed  to  holding  companies,  and  I  favor  laws  providing 
for  government  regulation  of  capitalization  and  for  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 


Chapter  VII. 


COMMERCIAL,    AGRICULTURAL    AND    OTHER 
ORGANIZATIONS. 


Roland  B.  Woodward,  Secretary  of  the  Rochester  (N.  Y.) 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  writes: 

We  have  members  who  are  perfectly  willing  to  answer  the 
questions  submitted  in  your  questionnaire,  but  believe  that  the 
position  taken  by  this  board  of  trustees  is  sufficiently  explicit 
and  constructive  to  voice  our  sentiments. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  the  Rochester  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  at  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  rooms  on  Tues- 
day, September  26,  1911,  the  following  questions  were  put  to 
the  trustees  by  President  Albert  B.  Eastwood: 

1.  What  effect,  if  any,  do  you  think  the  congressional  investi- 
gations into  corporations  and  other  business  are  going  to  have 
on  the  business  and  financial  outlook  and  situation? 

2.  What  effect,  if  any,  are  the  recent  tariff  discussions  and 
the  certainty  of  more  tariff  legislation  next  winter  having? 

3.  What  effect,  if  any,  have  the  Supreme  Court  decisions  in 
the  Oil  and  Tobacco  cases  had,  and  what  is  the  effect  on  busi- 
ness of  the  anti-trust  law  as  these  decisions  leave  it? 

4.  Is  credit  too  much  concentrated  in  the  great  financial 
centres  to  the  detriment  of  legitimate  business  men  and  busi- 
ness uses  throughout  the  country? 

5.  Most  of  all,  what  would  you  suggest  as  the  best  help  now 
toward  permanent,  stable  and  good  business  conditions,  what 
constructive  policy  or  plan? 

The  matter  proved  of  such  interest  to  the  trustees  that  the 
following  answers  were  formulated  by  five  of  the  leading  mem- 
bers of  the  chamber  and  unanimously  accepted  as  an  expression 
of  opinion  by  the  board  of  trustees  of  this  chamber.  Out  of  the 
fifty-four  trustees  thirty-two  were  present  at  this  meeting. 

1.  These  investigations  in  themselves  will  only  retard  for 
the  moment  the  natural  progress  of  evolution  which  has  been 
going  on  in  adapting  the  business  of  the  country  to  take  full 
advantage  of  the  improved  methods  of  communication  which 
now  exist.     Whether  or  not  this  evolution  will  be  permanently 
interfered  with  will  depend  upon  the  plan  which  is  to  be  imposed 
by  the  court  upon  the  Tobacco  Company  to  carry  out  the  recent 
Supreme  Court  decision. 

2.  Tariff  discussions  at  best  tend  to  unsettle  business.  Where 
there  is,  however,  certainty  in  tariff  legislation,  its  effects  on 

463 


business  are  not  bad.  In  the  case  of  schedule  X,  for  instance, 
the  clothing  man  knows  that  there  is  going  to  be  a  large  reduc- 
tion of  the  tariff.  How  much  he  does  not  know.  The  only 
effect  it  will  have  on  the  clothing  business  will  be  to  make  the 
clothing  man  more  conservative  in  his  purchases. 

3.  The  decisions  have  caused  the  managers  of  concerns  to 
which  the  Sherman  Act  may  possibly  be  applied  to  cease  all 
efforts  towards  betterments  or  extensions  until  they  know  where 
they  stand.    This  curtails  business.    As  the  anti-trust  law  stands 
to-day  it  furnishes  Congress  the  excuse  for  harassing  every  busi- 
ness the  other  authorities  may  have  overlooked.     Under  such 
circumstances  the  prudent  man  will  call  in  his  outstanding  cred- 
its, reduce  his  organization  to  the  minimum  and  await  evidences 
of  returning  sanity;  at  least  one  will. 

4.  The  concentration  of  capital  in  large  financial  centres  is 
not  detrimental  to  legitimate  business  at  large.     At  different 
seasons  of  the  year  money  distributed  all  over  the  country  could 
not  be. used  locally  for  legitimate  business  purposes,  therefore 
there  must  be  an  outlet  for  surplus  funds,  and  these  outlets  are 
through  our  reserve  cities  where  credit  can  be  extended  on  de- 
mand.    Credit  for  legitimate  business  purposes  must  be  on  a 
time  basis. 

5.  The  heroic  measures  of  the  government  under  the  Sher- 
man  Act,  if  they  were  necessary,  have  served  their  purpose. 
What  we  need  now  is  a  more  constructive  policy.    If  a  corpora- 
tion is  acting  in  restraint  of  trade,  treat  it  constructively;  its 
organization  has  an  economic  value  to  the  whole  field  in  which 
it  operates.     Locate  and  correct  the  offending  details;  do  not 
disrupt    the    organization.     Apply    corrective    measures    where 
needed;   do   not   dimmish   general   efficiency  by   forcing  disso- 
lution. 

Thomas  G.  Boggs,  Secretary,  Merchants  &  Manufacturers 
Association  and  also  Editor  of  "  Baltimore,"  a  maga- 
zine of  commerce,  industry  and  civics,  Baltimore, 
Md. 

In  my  humble  capacity  and  observation,  which  has  had  some 
advantages  from  my  position  and  training,  I  am  convinced  that 
great  corporations  have  come  to  stay.  They  must  be  regulated, 
and  with  publicity  and  proper  regulation  they  will  be  all  right. 
I  prefer  Federal  license,  under  suitable  conditions,  for  com- 
panies doing  an  interstate  business,  as  I  believe  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  State  rights.  I  am  utterly  opposed  to  holding  companies. 
It  is  a  great  scheme  to  beat  the  public.  Overcapitalization  is 
the  greatest  evil,  and  capitalization  should,  therefore,  be  subject 
to  government  regulation.  I  would  like  to  see  the  same  laws 
applied  to  all  corporations  as  are  applied  to  railroads — and 
publicity,  publicity,  publicity!  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 


465 

L.  A.  Jester,  Real  Estate,  and  Secretary,  East  Des  Moines 
Commercial  League,  Des  Moines,  Iowa. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  altogether  clear  and  workable  and 
should  be  amended  to  make  it  more  specific  in  its  application. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  I  believe  in  holding  companies,  with  proper 
restrictions.  The  government  should  regulate  capitalization, 
and  laws  should  be  enacted  applying  publicity  to  commercial 
corporations  through  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  believo 
that  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on  a  large 
scale  may  be  secured,  and  that  laws  should  be  enacted  to  ensure 
those  advantages. 

H.   G.   Krake,  Commissioner,  Business  Men's  League,   St. 
Joseph,  Mo. 

The  readjustment  of  larger  business  combinations  to  more 
practical  methods ;  the  rearrangement  of  railroad  rates  and  oper- 
ating practices,  together  with  a  tendency  toward  greater  con- 
servatism in  business,  and  the  effect  on  employed  classes  and 
others  of  small  means  of  the  advanced  cost  of  living,  are,  in 
my  judgment,  responsible  for  business  disturbance.  I  prefer 
Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate  business.  As 
to  holding  companies,  there  is  both  good  and  evil  in  them; 
under  close  Federal  supervision,  as  would  probably  obtain  under 
license  for  interstate  business,  I  would  not  favor  going  further 
at  present.  I  believe  the  Sherman  Act  is  now  exercising  restraint 
of  unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  and  may  prove  suf- 
ficient. I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission,  in  a  broad 
sense. 

George  B.  Cardwill,  Attorney-at-Law  and  Secretary  of  New 
Albany  Commercial  Club,  New  Albany,  Ind. 

Bad  banking  laws;  non-enforcement  of  the  Sherman  Law  in 
the  past;  political  manoeuvring;  lack  of  due  publicity  in  regard 
to  the  affairs  of  business  corporations — all  these  tend  to  create 
disturbed  business  conditions. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable,  and  I 
think  it  should  not  be  amended  at  present.  Combinations  of 
farmers  for  the  purpose  of  securing  fair  prices  for  their  prod- 
ucts should  be  permitted.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter 
into  agreements  affecting  rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorpora- 
tion law  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission. 

I  believe  that  the  time  has  come  for  the  national  government 
to  more  largely  control  industrial  activities.  Economically  we 
are  now  a  nation  and  not  a  league  of  States.  The  national 
incorporation  law,  if  enacted,  should  be  similar  to  that  now 
in  use  in  England.  I  am  inclined  to  favor  holding  companies, 
incorporated  by  the  national  government.  The  government 


should  regulate  capitalization,  but  national  incorporation  can 
and  should  cover  this  point  and  also  cover  publicity  for  com- 
mercial corporations,  the  protection  of  minority  stockholders, 
etc.  I  admit  the  advantages  claimed  for  those  doing  business  on 
a  large  scale. 

George  W.  Pratt,  for  Boston  Stationers'  Association, 
Boston,  Mass. 

We  favor  a  national  incorporation  act  for  companies  doing 
an  interstate  business.  We  are  opposed  to  laws  preventing  one 
company  from  hol'ding  stock  in  another  company.  A  proper 
national  incorporation  act  ought  to  take  care  of  capitalization 
and  also  of  the  protection  of  minority  stockholders  and  investors. 

C.  F.  Grantz,  Clerical  Agent  and  Secretary  of  the  Civil  Im- 
provement Commission  of  the  Moline  Club,  Moline, 
111. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable,  and  be- 
lieve that  it  should  be  amended  to  provide  for  more  publicity. 
Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 
rates.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license 
and  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission.  I  do  not  believe  in  hold- 
ing companies.  It  is  most  important  for  the  general  welfare 
that  laws  should  be  passed  calling  for  publicity  for  commer- 
cial corporations,  so  far  as  the  public  are  entitled  to  know  what 
they  are  doing.  These  are  only  my  personal  opinions. 

Walter  F.  Hayhurst,  Attorney-at-Law  and  Secretary  of 
Lambertville  Business  League,  Lambertville,  N.  J. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  caused  by  (1)  overcapi- 
talization, which  is  in  effect  at  its  best  a  capitalization  of  the 
future  and  tends  to  promote  speculation;  (2)  speculation  in  gen- 
eral; (3)  the  Stock  Exchange  methods  of  dealing  in  "futures," 
which  tend  to  prevent  the  regulation  of  prices  by  "  supply  and 
demand." 

The  great  need  is  a  new  principle  of  personal  conscience 
in  business,  in  place  of  certain  artificial  rules  that  are  in  gen- 
eral practice.  Legislation  cannot  provide  this  fully,  but  may 
promote  the  idea. 

There  is  room  for  further  clarification  and  later  amendment 
of  the  Sherman  Act.  I  prefer  no  amendment  for  at  least  an- 
other year  or  two.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission,  under  further  limitations.  I  favor  a  national  incor- 
poration law,  with  Federal  license  as  an  alternative. 

Ultimately  the  Interstate  Trade  Commission  may  be  a  neces- 
sity, but  I  am  not  ready  for  it.  If  all  the  advantages  claimed 
for  those  doing  business  on  a  large  scale  can  be  relied  upon, 
then  competition  between  the  large  and  small  operator  is  out 


467 

of  the  question;  but  I  believe  that  the  personal  element  results 
in  certain  economies,  skill  and  betterments  that  are  distinctly 
advantageous  to  smaller  concerns. 

I.  C.  Shinn,  Farmer,  Niles,  Cal. 

I  find  a  very  great  change  in  the  spirit  of  business  from,  say, 
twenty-five  years  ago.  Then  there  was  a  desire  to  "  live  and  let 
live,"  which  is  almost  totally  absent  now.  It  may  have  been 
merely  the  pioneer  expression  of  liberality  and  fairness,  which 
has  been  now  displaced  by  newcomers  and  harder  conditions. 
Retailers'  combines  raise  the  price  of  farmers'  products  and 
restrict  consumption,  and  often  prevent  the  farmer  from  getting 
a  fair  or  living  price. 

I  favor  national  as  well  as  State  incorporation  in  the  case 
of  companies  transacting  interstate  business.  Every  State  should 
make  combinations  in  restraint  of  trade  illegal  and  criminal. 
I  see  no  advantage  in  a  holding  company,  in  reducing  expenses 
of  operation  that  cannot  be  attained  in  other  ways.  The  hold- 
ing company  is  really  formed  to  get  .some  advantage  of  the  con- 
sumer. The  government  should  regulate  capitalization.  The 
great  abuse  of  overcapitalization  should  be  corrected  by  national 
and  State  laws.  I  favor  laws  that  would  apply  publicity  to  com- 
mercial corporations. 

I  believe  there  is  generally  very  great  loss  in  many  ways  in 
very  large  combinations,  and  that  the  economies  are  not  greater 
than  in  concerns  of  reasonable  size.  It  is  not  by  economies  that 
these  immense  concerns  make  their  great  profits,  but  by  control 
of  the  markets — both  sides  of  them  I  mean. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amended  in  any  particular 
shown  to  be  necessary,  to  enable  it  to  reach  all  kinds  of  unfair 
trade.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation 
of  the  Sherman  Act.  I  can  see  no  evil  in  allowing  farmers  to 
join  in _  warehousing  products  and  securing  loans  on  the  same. 
A  holding  company,  or  agreement  to  hold  for  a  certain  price, 
should  subject  farmers  to  the  same  provisions  of  law  which  gov- 
ern other  similar  agreements.  Disturbed  business  conditions 
arc  due  to  artificially  high  prices  caused  by  import  duties,  by 
<?reat  business  combines  in  restraint  of  trade  and  Almost  equally 
bv  retailers'  combines.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 
with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers. 

I.  B.  Blackstock,  Farming  and  Manufacturing,  Springfield, 

Rank  political  meddling  with  business  affairs  is  making  the 
trouble.  I  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law,  and  if  "it  is 
not  to  Be  repealed,  then  make  it  apply  to  everybody.  It  is 
unfair  as  it  is^  now.  As  to  combinations  of  farmers',  I  don't 
believe  it  possible  to  get  an  effective  combination  of  farmers 
sufficient  to  raise  prices  generally. 


468 

O.  Owen,  Secretary,  Board  of  Trade,  Port  Arthur,  Tex. 

I  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  in  favor  of  a  more  in- 
telligent but  equally  stringent  substitute.  The  law  should  go 
into  greater  detail,  define  its  object  better,  put  less  strain  on 
the  discretion  of  the  court,  recognize  modern  conditions  which 
have  arisen  since  its  enactment,  and  provide  for  Federal  regu- 
lation similar  to  public  utility  commissions.  Railroads  should 
be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates.  Trade 
unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sher- 
man Act;  but  the  principle  of  no-unfairness  should  be  safe- 
guarded by  clauses  recognizing  that  labor  is  not  the  same  as 
merchandise.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law;  but  leave 
room  for  State  activity,  somehow,  also.  I  favor  a  Federal  license 
law,  but  dot  not  tie  the  State's  hands  too  much.  I  favor  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission,  twenty  times  over :  we  must  come 
to  it  and  try  to  get  honest  men. 

The  wrongs  done  by  greedy  men  of  wealth  and  brains  have 
only  been  identified  as  crimes  very  recently  by  our  courts;  pos- 
sibly those  men  themselves  did  not  realize  they  were  committing 
crimes.  Hence  mere  punishment,  as  for  things  always  classed 
as  crimes,  is  not  proper,  nor  is  it  sufficient.  A  burglar's  jimmy 
should  be  destroyed,  but  a  mill  should  not  be  destroyed,  nor  an 
intricate  business  organization.  An  intelligent  correction  should 
be  made  by  able  men.  whereby  the  mill  and  its  management 
shall  go  on,  but  without  doing  unfair,  inhuman  acts. 

George   A.    Silsby,    Secretary,    Mitchell   Commercial   Club, 
Mitchell,  So.  Dak. 

The  Sherman  Law  is,  generally  speaking,  clear  and  work- 
able; it  takes  time  to  fully  prove  any  Jaw.  hi  many  instances 
it  would  not  be  feasible  to  return  "to  old  competitive  methods; 
but  competition  should  not  be  stifled  by  combinations.  Let  the 
courts  interpret  the  Sherman  Law  for  two  years  longer,  then 
decide  what  changes,  if  any,  should  be  made  to  produce  proper 
results  to  all  in  interest.  "  Should  trade  unions  be  excepted 
from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act?"  Xo!  N"o  greater 
menace  to  business  threatens,  and  they  should  be  amenable  to 
law,  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  if  drawn  on  lines 
not  too  rigid,  and  a  Federal  license  law,  not  as  a  revenue  pro- 
ducer, but  large  enough  to  cover  the  expense  of  handling  it.  I 
do  not  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 

Business  disturbance  is  undoubtedly  caused  by  the  suits 
instituted.  That,  temporarily,  puts  "  big  business  "  in  a  quan- 
dary, not  knowing  just  "  where  they  are  at/'  When  the  courts 
finally  reach  agreement,  then  all  will  know  just  how  to  proceed. 
The  sooner  the  status  of  all  large  corporations  (and  we  need 
them!)  is  fully  established  in  law,  the  sooner  adjustment  can  be 
had,  and  everybody  go  to  work  intelligently  and  with  full  under- 
standing of  his  vested  rights. 


460 

Milton  T.  Small,  Farmer,  Kalispell,  Mont. 

Because  some  receive  what  they  don't  earn  and  others  earn 
what  they  don't  receive,  business  is  not  in  the  condition  which 
it  ought  to  be.  This  condition,  however,  has  always  existed 
to  a  certain  extent,  but  only  vaguely  understood.  Now  we  have 
moved  out  into  the  light  and  see  each  the  other  as  one  really  is. 
The  condition  is  plain;  the  remedy  is  still  hidden. 

Under  the  head  of  general  remarks  I  move  the  election  of 
Robert  La  Follette  as  President  and  the  creation  of  the  office  of 
general  superintendent  and  promiscuous  adviser,  and  I  move  to 
install  therein  William  Jennings  Bryan.  I  believe  then  we 
would  have  something  doing. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  engaged  in  interstate 
commerce.  Federal  laws  should  only  govern  in  a  general  way, 
leaving  to  the  State  the  details  and  local  regulations. 

I  favor  strict  enforcement  of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Act, 
criminal  clause  and  all.  Then  we  will  see  whether  other  legisla- 
tion is  needed.  I  believe  that  holding  companies,  or  something 
answering  the  same  purpose,  are  necessary  in  order  to  make 
the  machinery  of  commerce  run  smoothly.  They  should  be  kept 
under  government  supervision,  and  all  their  acts  should  be  sub- 
ject to  public  inspection  and  inquiry. 

A.  C.  Pleydell,  Secretary,  New  York  Tax  Reform  Associa- 
tion and  National  Tax  Association,  New  York  City. 
(This  reply  is  not  official.) 

I  do  not  believe  in  either  national  incorporation  or  Federal 
license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate  business.  The  States 
can  attend  to  this;  besides,  mere  incorporation  gives  no  power 
to  oppress.  I  believe  in  holding  companies  for  public  service 
corporations  only,  under  regulations,  because  of  the  difficulty 
otherwise  of  consolidating  franchises  and  getting  unified  serv- 
ice. I  do  not  favor  laws  providing  for  government  regulation 
of  capitalization.  There  is  no  harm  in  so-called  overcapitaliza- 
tion, which  in  itself  gives  no  power  of  extortion.  Perhaps  laws 
for  the  protection  of  minority  stockholders  might  be  desirable. 
Let  investors  look  out  for  their  own  investments  so  far  as  earn- 
ing power  and  risk  are  concerned.  I  do  not  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission. 

F.  L.  Yale,  Secretary,  Commercial  Club,  Joplin,  Mo. 

I  prefer  Federal  license  for  companies  doing  an  interstate 
business.  I  am  in  favor  of  additional  legislation  explaining 
the  meaning  of  the  Sherman  Law  to  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court.  I  am  opposed  to  holding  companies.  I  prefer  statutes 
expressly  forbidding  specified  practices  in  connection  with  unfair 
competition  and  restraint  of  trade.  The  government  should 
regulate  capitalization,  and  laws  should  be  passed  calling  for 
publicity  applied  to  commercial  corporations. 


470 

Kilpatrick  Bros.,  by  R.  J.  Kilpatrick,  General  Contractors, 
Farmers  and  Stock  Raisers,  Beatrice,  Neb. 

Do  you  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law?  Yes.  Enact 
a  law,  in  lieu  of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law,  under  which 
business  could  be  transacted  at  home  and  abroad  of  any  magni- 
tude, encouraging  honest  enterprise  and  the  upbuilding  of  our 
institutions  in  the  largest  possible  way.  Kestore  confidence; 
employ  capital  and  labor,  and  give  our  people  the  great  pros- 
perity they  are  entitled  to. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  lack  of  confidence, 
caused  largely  by  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law,  under  which  it 
seems  impossible  to  do  a  legitimate  business.  Capital  seems  to 
prefer  to  remain  idle  rather  than  to  be  put  into  business  that 
might  result  in  a  loss  of  the  original  investment  and  perhaps 
place  the  owner  in  the  penitentiary.  If  the  United  States  Steel 
Company  is  an  illegal  combination,  it  would  seem  impossible  to 
form  a  legal  corporation  under  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law. 
We  favor  national  incorporation  and  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission. 

W.  B.  Dickerman,  Farmer,  Mamaroneck,  N.  Y. 

The  Sherman  Law  is  not  clear  and  workable  and  should  be 
repealed.  Eailroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act,  and  combinations  of  farmers 
to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  high  prices  should 
not  be  rendered  lawful.  The  suggestion  that  farmers  and  labor 
unions  should  be  exempted  from  the  operation  of  the  law,  and 
should  enjoy  freedom  from  prosecution,  shows  at  once  how  un- 
willing politicians  are  to  attack  any  organization  which  con- 
tains a  large  aggregation  of  voters.  If  politicians  are  to  super- 
vise business,  to  whom  shall  we  look  to  supervise  the  supervisors? 
Business  conditions  are  disturbed  owing  to  the  endeavor  by  men 
in  public  life,  irrespective  of  party,  to  bring  every  branch  of 
business  under  political  supervision  and  control.  To  this  end 
a  false  belief  has  been  created  and  fostered  that  business  men 
if  successful  are  not  honest,  and  that  the  greater  their  success 
the  more  dishonest  they  are. 

E.   L.   Terry,   Secretary,   Yazoo   Commercial   Club,   Yazoo 
City,  Miss. 

I  consider  it  feasible  to  return  to  old  competitive  methods 
in  business.  It  is  being  done  in  Europe.  Trade  unions  should 
not  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the  Sherman  Act;  com- 
binations of  farmers  should  be  lawful.  I  favor  an  Interstate 
Trade  Commission.  Complete  control  of  the  markets  by  large 
combinations  of  capital  is  the  principal  cause  of  disturbance  in 
business.  I  favor  laws  for  the  protection  of  minority  stock- 
holders and  to  prevent  the  exploitation  o"f  investors. 


471 

H.  M.  Pratt,  Attorney-at-Law  and  Secretary  of  Fort  Dodge 
Commercial  Club,  Fort  Dodge,  Iowa. 

I  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable  and  do 
not  favor  its  repeal.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  rates,  subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce 
Commission.  Trade  unions  should  not  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act;  nor  should  combinations  of 
farmers  be  permitted  to  restrict  production  or  to  hold  crops  for 
higher  prices. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law,  Federal  license  and  an 
Interstate  Trade  Commission.  The  government  should  regulate 
capitalization. 

Godfrey  Durst,  Miller  and  Farmer,  Danbury,  Iowa. 

The  unprecedented  number  of  middlemen,  caused  by  the  un- 
warranted movement  from  country  to  town;  the  excessive  tariff, 
not  only  causing  great  accumulations  of  wealth  and  padded 
prices,  but  tending  to  unduly  overbalance  investments  in  manu- 
factures and  manufacturing,  as  compared  with  investments  in 
actual  producing  enterprises,  such  as  farming  in  every  detail; 
displacement  of  money  from  regular  to  extraordinary  channels, 
such  as  the  automobile  industry;  and  many  other  causes  that 
might  be  suggested,  have  let!  to  the  present  business  disturb- 
ance. 

Wheeler    &    Dusenbury,    Lumbermen    and    Farmers,    En- 
deavor, Forest  County,  Pa. 

Business  is  fairly  good  with  us,  but  so  far  as  any  trouble 
exists  in  other  directions,  the  attack  on  large  corporations  by 
government  authorities  no  doubt  has  something  to  do  with  if. 
We  regard  the  Sherman  Law  as  clear  and  workable,  and  be- 
lieve that  it  should  be  neither  repealed  nor  amended.  Rail- 
roads should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting  rates, 
subject  to  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission. 

L.    A.    Beebe,    Secretary,    Hutchinson    Commercial    Club, 
Hutchinson,  Kan. 

To  the  question  as  to  whether  1  favor  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission,  my  answer  is,  yes.    Herein  is  the  key  to  the  whole 
trouble.     Disturbed  business  conditions  are  largely  caused  by. 
the  banking  interests.     A  half  dozen  men  in  New  York  can 
start  a  panic  any  time  they  choose  to  clo  so. 

A.  A.  Webber,  Secretary,  The  Batesville  Board  of  Trade, 
Batesville,  Ark. 

A  Democratic  House  of  Representatives  and  uncertainty  as 
to  the  coming  election  of  1912,  are  among  the  causes  of  the 
present  uncertainty.  I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and 
a  Federal  license  law;  also  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission, 
with  full  and  absolute  power  to  regulate. 


472 

L.  L.  McKim,  Secretary,  Ottawa  Commercial  Club,  Ottawa, 
Kan. 

The  timidity  of  capital  in  seeking  investments  where  there 
is  prospect  of  radical  changes  that  may  affect  the  value  of  the 
investment  is  largely  the  cause  of  business  uncertainty.  I  favor 
Federal  regulation  and  publicity  for  companies  doing  interstate 
business.  The  Sherman  Law  should  not  apply  to  trade  unions 
or  to  corporations  operated  without  profit.  I  am  opposed  to 
holding  companies.  The  government  should  regulate  capitali- 
zation, and  laws  should  be  enacted  applying  publicity  to  com- 
mercial corporations  through  a  commission  to  be  appointed  for 
that  purpose.  I  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Coin  mission. 

George  R.  Brown,  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Little 
Rock,  Ark. 

Inability  to  properly  construe  and  execute  the  Sherman  Law 
so  as  to  permit  the  great  business  interests  of  the  country  to 
conduct  their  affairs  without  being  dragged  into  the  courts  on 
some  "  reasonable  "  construction  of  the  law,  is  a  cause  of  dis- 
turbed business  conditions.  The  Sherman  Law  should  be  amend- 
ed so  as  to  eliminate  the  trusts  that  operate  in  violation  of  com- 
mon business  methods,  and  at  the  same  time  to  afford  a  fair 
chance  to  those  corporations  which  are  conducted  fairly  and 
honestly. 

R.  B.  Eldridge,  Secretary,  Lead  Commercial  Club,  Lead, 
S.  D. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  made  more  definite,  more  ap- 
plicable to  present  conditions,  etc.  Present  disturbance  in  busi- 
ness is  the  natural  accompaniment  of  the  evolution  through 
which  the  country  is  passing,  in  the  adjustment  of  "  big  busi- 
ness" to  right  and  justice,  and  the  greatest  welfare  of  the 
greatest  number.  It  is  necessary  that  when  a  change  is  made 
from  sort  of  a  laissez  faire  policy  to  one  in  which  the  general 
good  is  considered,  some  friction,  some  distress,  some  disturb- 
ance will  accompany. 

Thomas  W.  Hine  (Humboldt  County  Good  Roads  Club), 
Eureka,  Cal. 

I  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  and  an  Interstate  Trade 
Commission.  The  Sherman  Law  should  lie  repealed  or  radically 
amended.  Railroads  should  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements 
affecting  rates.  Business  is  disturbed  by  uncertainty  as  to  the 
tariff;  by  attacks  on  established  business;  unwarranted  agitation 
in  the  magazines  and  press,  and  by  stirring  up  of  class  preju- 
dices, producing  distrust  and  uncertainty  on  the  part  of  capital 
and  unrest  in  the  labor  world. 


473 

J.  F.   Culver,   Stark  Bros.'   Nurseries  and  Orchards   Com- 
pany, Louisiana,  Mo. 

The  disturbing  conditions  exist  only  in  the  money  centers; 
the  farmers  have  plenty  of  money ;  the  small  tradesman  is  doing 
well,  and  the  banking  situation  is  good.  Hence,  the  disturb- 
ance is  merely  among  the  money  centers,  which  are  subjected 
to  the  rules  of  the  Sherman  Act.  The  same  interests  are  also 
affected  to  a  certain  extent  by  the  agitation  regarding  tariff 
legislation. 

John  E.  Calhoun,  Farmer,  Cornwall,  Conn. 

Uncertainty  as  to  the  action  of  the  government  is  disturb- 
ing business.  The  Sherman  Law  ought  to  be  repealed.  A 
national  incorporation  law  should  be  enacted  and  also  a  Fed- 
eral license  law.  Combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict 
production  or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  should  not  be 
rendered  lawful. 


Chapter    VIII. 


SOME  EXTENDED  DISCUSSIONS-INTERESTING 
CONTRIBUTIONS  BY  LEADERS  IN  AMERI- 
CAN THOUGHT  AND  ACTION  WHO  GO 
MORE  INTO  DETAIL  IN  TREATING  OF 
THE  REGULATION  PROBLEM. 

John  Hays  Hammond,  Mining  Engineer,  Washington,  D.  C. 

The  magnitude  of  the  corporation  was  in  itself  formerly 
regarded  as  deserving  of  condemnation,  but  to-day  corporations 
are  judged  by  their  dominant  purposes,  their  methods,  and  how 
those  affect  the  welfare  of  the  people.  The  problem  is,  how 
may  the  beneficial  features  of  big  business  be  maintained,  its 
inherent  dangers  be  eliminated. 

To  remedy  the  potential  evils  of  trusts  the  Federal  anti-trust 
law — the  Sherman  Act —  was  passed  in  1890.  With  the  vicis- 
situdes of  the  operations  of  the  trusts  under  that  Act,  down  to 
comparatively  recent  times,  all  are  familiar.  This  much  might 
be  said  in  general,  that  as  far  as  the  law  affected  combinations 
in  restraint  of  trade,  the  stifling  of  competition  and  the  con- 
trolling of  prices,  it  has  been  during  that  period  in  a  state  of 
somewhat  innocuous  desuetude.  Under  the  present  national  ad- 
ministration the  enforcement  of  the  anti-trust  law  has  been  un- 
questionably more  effective  than  during  any  preceding  period 
of  its  history. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  discuss  the  aspects  of  present  litiga- 
tion incident  to  the  enforcement  of  the  anti-trust  law,  but  rather 
from  the  point  of  view  of  a  business*  man — an  advocate  of  large- 
scale  production — to  discuss  a  plan  whereby  the  unquestioned 
benefits  of  large-scale  production  could  be  preserved  and  the 
danger  of  its  abuse  minimized,  if  not  eliminated. 

First  of  all,  I  believe  that  the  basic  principle  of  the  Sher- 
man Act  should  be  maintained — certainly  until  a  new  substan- 
tive law  shall  be  enacted  to  protect  the  interests  of  the  public 
against  possible  aggression  on  the  part  of  big  business.  I  do 
not  believe,  however,  there  is  need  of  a  new  law  to  supersede 
the  Sherman  Act.  While  this  act  may  be  regarded  as  the  key- 
stone of  the  law  governing  modern  industrial  development,  it 
does  need,  I  think,  further  definition  and  amplification  by  sup- 
plemental legislation.  Further  definition  is  required  because  of 

474 


475 

existing  uncertainty  as  to  the  legality  of  corporate  procedure. 
Amplification  is  necessary  to  prevent  practices  which  may  not  be 
inhibited  by  the  present  law,  but  more  particularly  for  the  pur- 
pose of  increasing  the  elasticity  of  the  law  to  permit  corporate 
practices  when  of  undoubted  value  to  industry  and  not  detri- 
mental to  the  general  public. 

For  the  administration  of  the  laws  controlling  industrial 
corporations,  I  believe  a  Federal  commission  is  necessary,  such 
as  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission,  which  has  so  satisfac- 
torily regulated  interstate  railway  traffic.  This  commission 
should  consist  chiefly  of  business  men,  and  with  them  should  be 
associated  experts  on  economic  subjects  and  lawyers  who  have 
had  extensive  corporation  practice.  To  this  commission  consid- 
erable latitude  should  be  given  in  the  exercise  of  its  discretion 
as  to  economic  questions ;  but  there  should  be,  at  the  same  time, 
a  legal  tribunal  to  which  appeal  could  be  made,  especially  on 
legal  issues,  from  the  decisions  of  the  Commission. 

One  of  the  most  important  benefits  of  Federal  incorporation 
would  be  the  protection  of  the  investing  public,  and,  conversely, 
the  publicity  connected  with  enterprises  incorporated  under  such 
act  would  be  of  undoubted  advantage  to  the  corporations  them- 
selves, in  that  cheaper  capital  could  be  obtained  from  the  invest- 
ing public  for  industrial  development  because  of  confidence  in- 
spired among  investors.  Publicity  in  corporate  practice,  as  has 
been  said,  "is  what  sunshine  is  to  sanitation."  We  could  with 
great  advantage  adopt  some  of  the  features  of  the  corporation 
laws  of  other  countries. 

Competition  is  often  called  the  life  of  trade,  but  excessive 
competition  results  in  violent  fluctuation  in  prices  and  paralyzes 
business;  but  a  reasonable  stability  of  prices  is  indispensable  to 
flourishing  trade,  to  steady  employment  and  fair  wages. 

One  example  of  ruinous  competition  is  that  in  the  coal-min- 
ing industry.  The  entire  coal-mining  industry,  from  the  Mis- 
sissippi to  Virginia,  is  being  conducted  in  many  instances  with- 
out any,  and  in  general  without  adequate,  profit.  We  are  ship- 
ping and  selling  to-day  to  Canada  and  other  countries  millions 
of  tons  of  coal  yearly  at  an  actual  loss  to  the  operators.  As  a 
consequence  of  this  kind  of  competition,  the  operators  are  com- 
pelled to  leave  unmined  and  irretrievably  lost  upwards  of  40 
per  cent,  of  the  coal  in  the  beds.  A  far  worse  feature  as  the 
result  of  this  policy  is  the  appalling  loss  of  life  in  the  mines 
because  of  enforced  economies  in  operation.  If  the  government 
were  to  regulate  the  price  of  coal  so  as  to  admit  of  an  increase 
of  not  more  than  from  15  to  20  per  cent.,  by  sanctioning  an 
agreement  among  mine  operators  as  to  the  selling  price,  more 
than  one-half  of  the  coal  now  lost  would  be  conserved  for  future 
generations.  In  view  of  the  limited  coal  area  of  this  country 
und  of  the  concern  professed  for  the  welfare  of  future  genera- 
tions, as  evidenced  by  the  popularity  of  the  movement  for  the 
conservation  of  our  natural  resources,  such  a  policy  would,  I 


476 

believe,  be  justified.  Germany  and  Belgium  have  passed  through 
a  similar  crisis  in  their  coal  histor}r,  but  by  the  adoption  of  the 
legalized  "  Kartell "  system  the  industry  in  those  countries  is 
not  only  now  on  a  profitable  basis,  but  is  able  to  exploit  nearly 
all  the  coal  in  the  coal  measures,  and  with  a  greatly  reduced  loss 
of  life  in  mining  operations. 

The  increased  price  of  from  15  to  20  per  cent,  of  the  coal  at 
the  pit's  mouth  would,  in  itself,  be  but  an  insignificant  factor 
in  the  total  cost  of  the  coal  when  delivered  to  the  consumer,  as 
much  of  this  coal,  now  sold  at  the  pit's  mouth  for  a  dollar  per 
ton,  after  the  cost  of  transportation  and  distribution  is  paid, 
is  sold  to  the  consumer  at  from  four  to  six  dollars  per  ton. 

This  is  one  of  many  instances  I  could  give  where  I  believe 
that  government  regulation  would  be  of  great  value  to  industry. 

In  conclusion  I  would  say  that  by  legislation  supplemental 
to  the  Sherman  Act,  by  Federal  incorporation  and  by  the  crea- 
tion of  a  Federal  Industrial  Commission.  I  believe  that  the 
interests  of  the  general  public  would  be  adequately  safeguarded 
and  that  the  present  uncertainty  among  business  men  and 
investors  would  be  dispelled,  with  the  result  of  revived  activity 
in  the  industrial  development  of  the  country  and  the  general 
prosperity  of  the  nation. 

From  an  Address  by  George  W.  Perkins  to  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce,   Youngstown,  Ohio. 

It  is  within  the  memory  of  men  now  of  middle  age  that 
riots  and  bloodshed  followed  the  introduction  of  steam  and 
electrical  machinery  that  curtailed  the  use  of  hand  labor  because 
workingmen  had  an  ocular  demonstration  of  the  fact  that  these 
machines  would  do  with  one  or  two  men  the  work  that  had 
previously  been  done  by  five  or  ten  men.  Therefore,  they  did 
not  guess  or  think;  they  knew  that  these  machines  were  going 
to  throw  men  out  of  work.  How  could  it  be  otherwise?  There- 
fore these  machines  were  a  menace  to  the  workmen.  They  were 
afraid  of  their  power  and  far-reaching,  harmful  influence;  they 
were  the  invention  of  the  evil  one  himself,  and  the  only  thing 
to  do  was  to  destroy  them,  else  they  would  work  great  harm  to 
the  workmen  and  bring  great  benefit  to  the  capitalist. 

What  happened?  At  first  fear  and  prejudice  got  the  upper 
hand.  Some  of  these  machines  were  destroyed,  but  these  ma- 
chines stood  for  progress,  and  ultimately  it  was  seen  that  in 
place  of  their  being  a  bane  to  the  workingman  they  were  a  bless- 
ing; they  gave  him  shorter  hours,  better  pay,  less  drudgery  in 
his^work,  with  more  work  for  more  men  under  more  favorable 
conditions;  and  now,  almost  without  exception,  the  laboring 
man  is  as  much  interested  in  the  introduction  of  a  new  labor- 
saving  machine  as  is  the  capitalist.  Reason  and  foresight  have 
overcome  prejudice  and  fear.  This  will  always  be  so,  for  fear  is 
founded  on  emotion,  while  reason  is  based  on  fact. 


477 

That  light  has  been  won;  that  situation  has  been  cleared  up, 
and  now,  at  this  moment,  we  are  passing  through  almost  a 
parallel  experience  with  our  corporations;  for,  after  all,  they 
are  nothing  more  than  great  machines  invented  for  doing  busi- 
ness more  economically  and  expeditiously.  They  have  created 
fear  and  apprehension  among  the  people,  just  as  the  other  ma- 
chines did,  but  in  place  of  being  destroyed  by  the  workingman 
these  corporate  machines  are  actually  being  torn  asunder  by 
the  Federal  government  itself.  But  reason  and  foresight  will 
again  triumph  over  prejudice  and  fear,  and  ultimately  the  cor- 
porate machine,  which  also  stands  for  progress,  will  come  to 
be  regarded  not  as  a  bane  but  as  a  blessing.  As  the  steam  and 
electrical  machines  stood  for  progress  in  manufacture,  so  the 
corporate  machine  stands  for  progress  in  method:  one  has  fol- 
lowed the  other  as  a  natural  result  and  necessity.  It  is  no 
more  possible  to  stop  progress  by  legislation  than  it  is  to  make 
men  efficient  by  law. 

The  development*  of  the  last  six  months  alone  have  made  it 
possible  for  us  to  see  things  a  little  more  distinctly.  The  fog 
lias  lifted  slightly,  and  at  least  three  things  are  now  becoming 
clearer  to  all  of  us : 

First — That  dissolution  is  not  a  solution,  because  we  are 
after  substance,  not  form. 

Second — That  the  United  States  of  America,  in  its  quest 
for  commerce  in  the  twentieth  century,  must  have  large  business 
concerns. 

Third — That  the  people  are  not  afraid  of  the  size  of  these 
concerns,  but  are  afraid  of  the  methods  and  practices  pursued 
in  the  past,  and  determined  that  these  methods  and  practices 
shall  not  be  pursued  in  the  future. 

Dissolution  is  not  a  solution;  it  may  be  a  distribution;  it  is 
a  delusion.  This  fact  is  being  demonstrated  in  such  a  practical 
way  by  currgnL events  that  the  utter  futility  of  dissolution  must 
speedily  become  apparent  to  everyone,  making  it  plain  that  we 
must  look  in  some  other  direction  for  relief  and  protection. 
Therefore,  if  dissolution  does  not  solve  our  problem,  and  we 
must  have  large  business  organizations  to  cope  with  the  large 
affairs  of  the  world,  the  question  that  confronts  us  is  how  we  can 
have  large  business  organizations  with  justice  to  one  and  all, 
with  fairness  to  capital,  to  labor,  to  ability,  to  the  consumer. 

Our  people  have  abundant  and  just  cause  for  the  deep- 
seated  feeling  of  hostility  they  entertain  toward  many  of  the 
business  practices  of  the  past,  and  they  are  determined  to  put 
a  stop,  among  other  things,  to  the  exploitation  of  the  many  for 
the  onrich.ment  of  the  few.  The  discussion  of  the  last  few 
months  makes  it  perfect! v  clear  that  some  of  the  practices  that 
nm<t  stop  are  the  following: 

Firxt — -Overcapitalization  and  stock  watering  of  corpora- 
tions. 


47S 

Second — The  unbridled  control  by  a  few  men  of  huge  aggre- 
gations of  capital  in  business. 

Third — Secret,  unscrupulous,  blind-pool  methods. 

Fourth — Unfair  distribution  of  profits  between  capital,  labor 
and  consumer. 

Our  people  are  intelligent,  fair-minded  and  ambitious.  While 
they  have  determined  that  the  practices  above  enumerated  must 
stop,  they  do  not,  for  one  minute,  mean  to  put  a  stop  to  the 
growth  of  American  commercial  development  either  at  home  or 
abroad,  and  they  look  to  the  national  Congress  and  to  the  great 
business  congress  of  this  country  to  co-operate  immediately  in 
finding  a  way  to  solve  these  problems,  so  that  the  evils  of  the 
past  can  be  eliminated  and  the  benefits  of  doing  business  on 
a  large  scale  can  be  maintained. 

At  least  two  things  must  be  done :  Business  must  give  up  its 
improper,  harmful  practices,  and  the  law  must  readjust  itself 
to  modern  economic  conditions. 

Nearly  everything  in  this  country  has  been  revised  during 
the  past  twenty  years  to  meet  changing  conditions,  except  the 
Sherman  Law.  It  cannot  escape;  it  must  take  its  turn  and  be 
revised — not  downward,  but  upward  to  a  higher  order  of 
efficiency  and  justice.  The  present  chaotic  condition  must  not 
only  be  mended,  it  must  be  ended. 

With  all  the  decisions  on  the  Sherman  Law  by  various  courts, 
and  with  all  the  suits  by  the  Attorney  General,  it  is  a  startling 
commentary  on  the  utter  futility  of  the  whole  programme  that 
within  a  few  days  after  the  filing  of  the  last  great  suit  the  daily 
papers  announced  that  a  certain  business  interest  was  going 
to  organize  a  company  by  putting  six  hundred  stores  together; 
that  this  company  was  to  be  capitalized  for  $50,000,000  of  com- 
mon stock  and  $15,000,000  of  preferred  stock — presumably  for 
the  purpose  of  enlisting  the  public  as  stockholders.  The  com- 
pany, on  organization,  would  enter  upon  its  career  as  a  great 
interstate  and  international  business  concern. 

Under  our  present  system  there  is  nothing  to  prevent  this. 
In  some  one  of  several  States  there  can  be  found  a  law  under 
which  a  company  of  this  kind  can  now,  at  any  time,  be  organ- 
ized, its  stock  underwritten  and  sold  to  the  public,  and  every- 
thing will  go  along  swimmingly  until  some  one  files  a  bill  of 
complaint  against  it  because  of  some  of  its  methods,  and  then 
Federal  authorities  can  swoop  down  upon  it  and  rend  it  limb 
from  limb :  but  by  that  time  who  will  be  injured  ?  The  men 
who  conceived  the  plan,  who  issued  the  stock  and  sold  it  to  the 
public?  Not  at  all;  the  injury  will  come  to  the  innocent  third 
parties,  viz.,  a  host  of  small  stockholders;  and  the  public  has 
made  up  its  mind  that  it  is  precisely  this  sort  of  injury  that 
has  got  to  stop,  ancl  they  look  to  our  Federal  government  to 
stop  it. 

These  people  who  are  going  to  organize  this  company  of  six 
hundred  store?,  our  State  officials  and  our  Federal  officials  all 


479 

know  perfectly  well  that  this  company  is  not  being  organized 
to  do  business  in  just  one  State  or  with  the  people  of  one  State 
or  with  the  money  of  one  State  and  that  their  customers  are 
not  going  to  be  from  one  State.  They  contemplate  not  only 
an  interstate  but  an  international  business,  with  stockholders 
all  over  the  world  and  with  customers  all  over  the  world.  Is 
it  not  perfectly  plain,  therefore,  that  they  should  do  business 
with  Federal  and  not  State  authorities?  They  should,  there- 
fore, be  required  by  law  to  go  to  Washington,  lay  their  plan 
before  some  Federal  bureau,  have  their  capitalization  and  entire 
purpose  passed  upon,  and  be  given  a  Federal  charter  or  license 
under  which  they  can  proceed. 

Once  having  been  allowed  to  proceed,  the  people  who  buy 
the  stock  will  know  that  it  is  issued  for  full  value;  that  the 
business  is  a  legitimate  business,  and  that  it  has  got  to  make 
regular  reports  to  the  government.  Then,  later  on,  if  a  bill  of 
complaint  is  filed  against  this  company,  in  place  of  proceeding 
to  disrupt  the  company  and  having  the  hardship  fall  on  the 
innocent  stockholders,  the  law  should  be  so  plain  that  if  the 
complaints  are  well  founded  the  officers,  directors  or  employees 
of  the  concern  can  be  imprisoned  exactly  as  we  now  do  in  case 
of  wrongdoing  under  our  Federal  system  of  bank  supervision 
and  control. 

The  time  to  lock  the  stable  door  is  before  the  horse  is  stolen. 

We  now  have  at  Washington  a  Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor.  This  department  is  just  as  much  a  part  and  parcel  of 
our  Federal  government  as  is  the  State  Department,  the  Post- 
Office  Department,  the  Treasury  Department  or  the  Department 
of  Justice.  Its  head  is  a  cabinet  member,  as  are  the  heads  of 
the  other  departments;  and  yet  in  the  turmoil  of  recent  times 
we  seem  to  have  almost  entirely  lost  sight  of  this  department. 
Tt  has  been  in  Existence  for  nine  years.  It  has  what  is  known 
as  the  Bureau  of  Corporations,  which  has  amounted  to  little 
more  than  a  statistical  bureau,  gathering  information  for  the 
President  and  the  Attorney  General. 

We  should  build  up  and  strengthen  this  branch  of  the  gov- 
orninent  by  such  legislation  as  will  give  it  actual,  live  control 
over  interstate  and  international  industrial  companies.  Such 
companies  should  be  required  to  obtain  a  charter  or  license  from 
this  department  before  they  could  do  business.  As  a  condition 
to  obtaining  such  charter  or  license  they  should  be  required  to 
satisfy  this  department  as  to  their  capitalization.  They  should 
be  required  to  submit  to  the  department,  at  frequent  intervals, 
exhaustive  statements  and  reports  as  to  their  methods  of  doing 
business,  cost  of  production,  price  of  marketing  product,  treat- 
ment of  competitors,  compensation  and  treatment  of  labor  and 
treatment  of  consumer.  In  short,  they  should  be  required  to 
lav  bare  to  this  department  all  transactions  of  every  kind  and 
nature.  This  department,  in  turn,  should  make  public,  at  fre- 


480 

queii t  intervals,  its  findings  regarding  these  corporations,  under 
u  regular  system  of  inspection  and  report. 

As  one  industrial  business  varies  so  much  from  another, 
the  only  way  we  can  finally  settle  many  questions  that  are  bound 
to  arise  continually  in  undertaking  the  Federal  regulation  of 
industrials  is  to  establish  at  Washington,  in  connection  with  the 
Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  a  court,  commission  or 
board  of  some  sort  that  will  have  large,  broad  powers  to  pass 
upon  the  various  complex  and  intricate  questions  that  must 
necessarily  arise  from  day  to  day  in  the  changing  conditions  that 
surround  business  affairs  in  the  progress  and  evolution  of  the 
world.  These  questions  will  not  necessarily  be  legal  questions. 

The  questions  in  this  department  having  to  do  witli  indus- 
trial affairs  will  be  practical  business  problems  rather  more 
than  technical  legal  problems,  and  therefore  this  board  should 
be  composed  of  practical  business  men.  We  should  make  mem- 
bership on  this  board  just  as  much  the  goal  and  ambition  of 
such  men  as  the  Supreme  Court  is  the  goal  and  ambition  of  our 
lawyers;  so  that  appointment  to  such  a  board  would  be  regarded 
by  our  young  men,  when  they  enter  business,  as  the  greatest 
honor  that  could  ultimately  come  to  them. 

This  would  soon  give  us  in  Washington  a  board  of  business 
managers  equipped  by  training  and  experience  to  deal  with  our 
great  domestic  and  foreign  trade  problems  in  the  same  broad, 
constructive  way  that  our  Supreme  Court  deals  with  our  larger 
legal  problems.  Business  questions  need  business  men,  just  as 
medical  questions  need  medical  men. 

The  situation  demands  immediate  relief,  and  if  Congress 
cannot  promptly  formulate  a  new  and  comprehensive  programme, 
then  the  President,  with  the  consent  of  Congress,  should  at  once 
appoint  a  commission  to  take  up  the  great  problem  that  con- 
fronts us,  and  no  further  steps  of  a  nature  disturbing  to  busi- 
ness should  be  taken  by  the  government  until  that  commission 
has  made  its  report.  We  have  had  commissions  on  the  tariff, 
on  railroad  capitalization,  on  postal  matters,  etc.,  and  none  of 
these  questions,  when  the  commissions  were  appointed,  were 
as  burning  and  vital  as  is  this  business  question  at  the  present 
hour. 

This  commission  should  not  be  composed  solely  of  business 
men  from  New  York  or  statesmen  from  Washington,  but  should 
bo  representative  of  all  sections  of  the  country  and  all  interests, 
because  the  question  affects  us  all. 

James  M.  Head,  Lawyer,  59  Temple  Place,  Boston. 

In  answer  to  Question  1,  will  say  that  in  my  opinion  the 
Sherman  Law  as  now  interpreted  is  made  clear  and  workable, 
but  whether  or  not  this  is  the  best  method  of  dealing  with  the 
problems  presented  admits  of  very  serious  doubt.  As  at  pres- 
ent construed,  the  courts  must  assume  the  duty  and  responsi- 
bility of  determining  in  every  case  upon  the  particular  facts 


4S1 

presented,  whether  or  not  in  the  exercise  of  the  particular  acts 
complained  of  the  trust,  corporation,  association  or  individual 
has  actually  used  its  power  either  to  so  restrict  competition 
or  to  engage  in  such  ruinous  competition  as  to  injure  the  pub- 
lie  or  destroy  a  competition,  both  of  which  acts  are  made  illegal 
by  this  statute. 

It  is  the  use  made  of  the  powers  which  the  trust,  corpora- 
tion, association  or  individual  possesses,  which  makes  its  con- 
duct criminal  under  this  statute,  and  such  conduct  the  courts 
may  be  called  upon  both  to  prevent  and  punish.  It  is  not  the 
mere  possession  of  the  power  to  injure  which  the  courts  can  be 
called  upon  to  destroy  in  the  absence  of  its  abuse. 

The  enforcement  of  all  criminal  laws,  and  the  restraint  of 
all  abuses  of  power  must  be  left  to  the  courts,  either  upon  the 
government's  initiative  through  the  instrumentalities  provided 
for  that  purpose,  or  upon  such  information  as  may  be  furbished 
by  individuals. 

There  are  any  number  of  criminal  offenses  to  which  neither 
the  courts  nor  the  legislature  have  been  able  to  give  specific 
definitions,  but  which  are  well  understood,  and  punishment  in- 
flicted for  their  violation  when  the  facts  are  proven.  Criminal 
laws  usually  contain  express  prohibitions,  and  few,  if  any  of 
them,  set  out  affirmative  acts  as  not  coming  within  their  pro- 
vision. 

In  answer  to  Question  2,  would  say  by  no  means.  Com- 
bination and  co-operation  is  fast  taking  the  place  of  compe- 
tition. No  law  which  has  ever  yet  been  devised  can  force  people 
to  compete  who  do  not  desire  to  do  so. 

Commercial  warfare  through  competition  is  fast  becoming 
a  thing  of  the  past,  and  can  be  shown  to  be  more  destructive  of 
legitimate  business  than  international  warfare  is  of  national 
existence. 

The  business  of  this  country  having  been  built  up  dur- 
ing the  past  thirty-five  years  on  the  co-operative  plan,  and  on 
a  large  scale  must  be  continued  along  these  lines  and  all  efforts 
to  force  a  return  to  old  competition  methods  is  doomed  to 
failure,  and  can  only  result  in  hindering  the  onward  march 
of  development,  and  retarding  for  a  time  that  progress  and 
prosperity  to  which  we  are  justly  entitled.  While  old  competi- 
tion methods  are  out  of  date,  modern  monopoly  methods  can- 
not longer  be  endured.  Business  must  continue  to  be  conducted 
on  a  big  scale  for  the  benefit  of  and  not  to  the  injury  of  the 
general  public. 

In  answer-  to  Questions  ,°>  and  4,  the  repeal  of  the  Sherman 
Law.  without  putting  something  better  in  its  place,  would  be 
n  eriovons  mistake.  It  rmVht,  however,  be  so  amended  as  to 
<Vfme  more  clearly,  if  possible,  the  line  of  demarkation  between 
tho  proper  use  and  the  nbuso  of  the  great  powers  possessed  by 
trusts,  corporations  and  individual.  It  must  be  made  clear 
that  the  mere  possession  of  power  to  do  wrong  should  not  be 


4S2 

made  illegal,  while  those  entrusted  with  unusual  powers  should 
be  held  to  the  very  highest  criminal  responsibility  ror  their 
abuse.  It  is  all  nonsense  to  say  that  intelligent  men  do  not 
know  whether  or  not  they  are  intentionally  using  their  power 
to  injure  either  the  public  or  their  rivals  in  business.  Under 
the  competitive  system  the  right  to  injure  a  rival  in  business 
is  regarded  as'  legal  and  a  part  of  the  game.  Under  the  co- 
operative system  the  exaction  of  an  unreasonable  profit,  or  the 
destruction  of  a  rival's  business,  are  wrongful,  and  under  the 
Sherman  Act  are  made  criminal,  and  should  be  so  continued 
by  making  the  directors  of  corporations  personally  responsible, 
both  civilly  and  criminally,  for  every  illegal  act  permitted  to 
be  done  in  the  name  of  the  corporation. 

In  answer  to  Questions  5,  '6  and  7,  railroads  should  be  al- 
lowed to  enter  into  agreement  affecting  freight  rates,  subject 
to  the  'approval  and  regulation  of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission, and  the  pity  is  that  we  have  no  similar  tribunal  to 
which  agreements  affecting  trade  unions,  and  combinations  of 
farmers  could  also  be  referred  for  regulation  and  approval. 

The  whole  trouble  is  that  we  have  been  taught  to  look 
upon  government  either  as  an  instrument  of  oppression  or  as 
an  instrument  to  be  used  for  personal,  selfish  ends,  instead  of  a 
partnership  in  which  we  are  all  equally  interested,  organized 
if  or  th'eir  mutual  protection  .•and  benefit,  and  not  intended 
to  be  used  to  favor  one  class  or  set  of  men  at  the  expense  of 
others. 

When  we  learn  to  take  this  view  of  our  government,  the 
recent  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Standard  Oil  and 
Tobacco  cases  will  come  to  be  regarded  as  the  most  important 
decision  ever  handed  down  by  that  great  tribunal.  It  sounds 
the  death-  knell  of  the  competitive  system  of  doing  business 
and  ushers  in  the  co-operative  plan,  in  which  all  participate 
to  a  greater  or  less  extent  through  the  restrainins;,  regulating1, 
and  controlling , powers  of  government,  in  which  all  of  us  should 
be  equal  partners,  and  none  of  us  special  beneficiaries. 

Marvin  A.  Dean,  Wholesale  Grocer,  Chicago,  111. 

While  doubtless  the  Supreme  Court  in  its  decisions  affect- 
ing the  Standard  Oil  Company  and  the  American  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, had  a  clear  conception  of  the  situation  and  believed  it 
had  made  clear  to  the  commercial  world  that  organization  and 
co-operation  were  permissible  within  reasonable  restrictions, 
and  if  the  general  public  were  able  to  interpret  with  any  de- 
gree of  certainty  the  plan  of  operation  the  Court  had  in  view, 
it  might  be  possible  to  adjust  conditions  to  the  necessary  re- 
quirements in  such  a  way  as  not  to  limit  the  scope  of  business 
enterprises  of  the  country ;  but  it  is  our  belief  that  to  the  aver- 
age business  man  there  is  more  of  quiddity  than  certainty  in 
the  regulations  that  are  now  being  appli/d  to  business. 


483 

A  legitimate  incentive  to  promote  and  support  any  desirable 
business  enterprise  should  be  safeguarded,  for  the  reason  that 
as  soon  as  there  is  a  lack  of  confidence,  any  enterprise  depend- 
ing upon  general  support  will  fail. 

Interrogatory  2 :  Do  you  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to 
return  to  what  are  commonly  known  as  old  competitive  meth- 
ods in  business? 

Answer:  Co-operation,  controlled  by  good  business  sense, 
will  secure  better  results  for  both  dealer  and  consumer  than  the 
competitive  plan,  for  the  reason  that,  under  the  former  plan, 
quality  will  be  foremost  in  the  mind  of  the  manufacturer  or 
producer,  while  in  the  latter  case  quantity  regardless  of  quality 
would  be  the  principal  desideratum  in  most  transactions. 

Interrogatory  3 :    Do  you  favor  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  ? 

Answer:  If  an  amendment  to  the  law  could  be  enacted,  so 
that  all  uncertainty  in  reference  to  the  application  of  it  could 
be  removed,  and  a  working  plan  made  clear  so  that  all  agencies 
for  the  furtherance  of  the  common  good  should  be  encouraged, 
and  a  conscientious  and  persistent  endeavor  to  work  in  har- 
mony with  Federal  and  State  regulations  should  be  prima-facie 
evidence  of  a  disposition  to  comply  strictly  with  the  law,  then 
we  believe  it  would  be  much  better  to  work  under  the  law  so 
amended  than  to  repeal  it,  as  the  public  generally  has  come 
to  regard  the  law  as  furnishing  protection  in  a  measure  against 
the  inroads  of  unscrupulous  organizations. 

Interrogatory  4 :    See  answer  to  Interrogatory  3. 

Interrogatory  5  :  Should,  railroads  be  allowed  to  enter  into 
agreements  affecting  ra1es,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regula- 
tion of  the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission? 

Answer :  The  transportation  problem  is  one  of  the  most 
difficult  questions  to  be  solved.  Common  carriers  should  be  at 
liberty  to  indicate  the  tariff  necessary  to  cover  their  require- 
ments. Some  system  should  be  devised  whereby  the  relative 
cost  of  equipment,  operation  and  maintenance  should  be  con- 
sidered in  fixing  rates.  Railroad  officials  are  best  qualified  to 
determine  what  the  rates  should  be,  but  to  prevent  any  excess- 
ive charges  for  service,  or  the  unfair  treatment  of  any  locality, 
all  tariff  schedules  should  be  approved  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission. 

Interrogatory  G :  Should  trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the 
operation  of  the  Sherman  Act? 

Answer :  There  should  be  no  exceptions  in  the  matter  of 
Interstate  Commerce,  and  the  situation  as  it  exists  to-day  does 
not  require  that  any  exceptions  be  made. 

Interrogatory  7:    Answered   as  Xo.  (>. 

Interrogatory  <S :  Do  you  favor  a  national  incorporation 
law? 

Answer:  A  corporation  bcin^  a  fictitious  entity  and,  when 
engaged  in  ordinary  merchandising,  is  employed  cither  for  one 
or  two  reasons. 


484 

First — To  enlist  the  support  of  capital  without  the  assump- 
tion of  liability  or  responsibility;  or 

Second — To  perpetuate  an  industry. 

Under  the  former  head  will  be  found  combinations  where  the 
unification  of  power  has  reached  a  point  that  the  organization  5s 
styled  a  trust.  Such  combinations  are  a  menace  to  the  common 
welfare  when  by  such  organizations  undue  advancement  of  prices 
are  effected,  and  so  long  as  the  incentive  for  subscribing  to  the 
capital  stock  of  such  organizations  is  the  prospective  liberal 
return  in  the  form  of  dividends,  so  long  will  there  be  danger  in 
permitting  the  incorporation  of  corporations  in  trafficking  in 
goods  necessary  for  the  common  maintenance.  Corporations 
therefore  should  be  confined  strictly  to  public  utility  organiza- 
tions and  to  the  manufacture  and  distribution  of  patented 
articles  or  articles  where  inventive  genius  has  produced  some- 
thing useful  and  which  has  not  been  preceded  by  any  article 
similar. 

Interrogatory  9  :    Do  you  favor  a  Federal  license  law  ? 

Answer:  A  national  incorporation  law  should  be  based  on 
a  Federal  license  law,  which  should  furnish  sufficient  revenue 
to  enable  the  government  to  examine  carefully  into  the  affairs 
of  every  corporation,  and  to  have  the  same  control  over  all  cor- 
porations that  it  now  exercises  over  the  national  banks. 

Interrogatory  10 :  Do  you  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Com- 
mission, etc.,  etc.? 

Answer :  Rivalry  between  sections  would  make  it  exceed- 
ingly difficult  to  appoint  a  trade  commission  that  could  be 
trusted  to  regulate  commerce.  Carefully  prepared  National 
Incorporation  Law  with  a  general  supervision  and  periodical 
examinations,  with  provisions  for  the  proper  conduct  of  all 
corporations,  would  be  all  that  Avould  be  necessary. 

Interrogatory  11:  In  your  judgment,  what  caused  or  causes 
the  present  disturbed  business  conditions? 

Answer:  Uncertainty.  The  people  generally  have  no  clear 
understanding  of  the  rights  of  traders  doing  an  interstate  com- 
merce business.  There  is  no  encouragement  for  the  employ- 
ment of  any  endeavor  in  the  matter  of  building  up  of  an  inter- 
state business.  Some  plan  must  be  devised  that  will  lend  to 
our  economic  forces  every  inducement  to  develop.  Ambiguity 
should  be  eliminated  from  the  law,  and  every  enterprise  for  the 
development  of  trade  and  commerce,  without  monopolistic  tend- 
ency, should  be  encouraged. 

If  the  avenues  of  trade  can  be  so  clearly  defined  that  one 
can  conduct  an  interstate  commerce  business  with  the  certainty 
of  no  interruption,  then  the  energy  and  the  ambition  of  the 
people  will  hold  this  country  in  its  proper  place  among  the 
advanced  nations  of  the  world  ;  but  whatever  action  mav  be 
taken,  the  people  should  be  i aught  that  while  government  super- 
vision and  regulation  of  commerce  is  desirable,  it  will  neces- 
sarily tend  to  the  higher  cost  of  living. 


485 

C.  W.  Post,  Postum  Cereal  Company,  Ltd.,  Battle  Creek, 
Mich. 

Cognizant  of  the  importance  of  the  movement  for  considera- 
tion of  the  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law,  I  am  impelled  to  treat 
the  subject  more  in  detail^  and  thus  in  part  explain  the  con- 
densed replies  to  your  condensed  questions. 

The  findings  of  the  Supreme  Court  that  combinations  in 
restraint  of  trade,  with  the  purpose  of  controlling  prices  and 
stifling  competition,  are  unlawful,  seems  clearly  defined  as  an 
act  in  the  interests  of  the  people  at  large. 

I  can  understand  that  it  might  be  desirable  for  the  govern- 
ment to  fix  prices  of  transportation  and  perhaps  of  labor,  but  if 
the  combinations,  either  of  capital  or  labor,  were  allowed  to  fix 
prices  for  their  own  combinations,  or  organizations,  and  to  kill 
off  all  other  combinations,  or  competing  individuals,  it  would 
result  in  a  desperate  form  of  slavery. 

It  probably  would  be  desirable  for  the  government  to  fix 
maximum  and  minimum  rates  for  transportation,  based  upon 
an  equitable  income  for  the  investors,  but  it  would  be  unfair 
to  allow  a  combination  of  trunk  lines  to  fix  their  own  rates  and 
when  other  investors  finished  a  competing  line,  the  original  com- 
bination be  permitted  to  put  the  rates  down  so  low  as  to  ruin 
the  new  road. 

I  think  shippers  and  the  public  generally  would  be  satisfied 
with  fixed  and  dependable  rates,  even  if  they  appeared  a  little 
high,  but  it  will  not  be  safe  to  allow  any  organization  in  the 
railroad  or  other  business  to  dominate  the  situation  and  ruin 
competitors. 

This  fact  is  even  more  apparent  than  we  consider  the  organi- 
zation of  labor. 

It  is  a  desperate  situation  when  a  man  cannot  obtain  em- 
ployment without  first  making  peace  with  the  big  labor  trust 
and  paying  in  a  weekly  or  monthly  stipend,  and  being  subjected 
to  the  fines  and  other  petty  indignities  imposed  by  the  leaders. 

As  an  illustration — certain  labor  unions  in  Chicago  call 
strikes  on  buildings,  because  other  labor  unions  have  done  part 
of  the  work,  or  perhaps  because  individual  workmen,  not  mem- 
bers of  unions,  have  worked  on  material  entering  into  the  con- 
struction of  the  buildings. 

Thus  the  builders  are  subjected  to  loss,  the  public  subjected 
to  inconvenience  and  loss,  and  the  workingmen  tyrannized  over 
and  prevented  from  earning  a  living.  Such  interference  with 
the  business  and  constitutional  rights  of  others  is  contrary  to 
the  present  laws,  and  no  destruction  of  such  laws  should  be  per- 
mitted. 

An  example  of  trust  methods  is  shown  in  the  typographical 
union  label  affixed  to  the  stationery  used  by  the  Civic  Federar 
tion.  That  label  notifies  the  world  that  no  printers  outside 
the  trust  would  be  allowed  to  print  the  stationery. 


486 

Men  who  attempted  to  work  independently  in  the  New  York 
printing  industry  were  harassed,  assaulted  and  much  violence 
committed  in  desperate  efforts  to  suppress  all  business  and  labor 
outside  the  trust. 

It  is  extremely  doubtful  that  equitable  consideration  of  this 
question  could  come  from  men  on  the  Civic  Federation,  com- 
mitted heart  and  soul  to  the  policy  of  dominating  workingmen 
and  attacking  those  they  cannot  control. 

The  condition  becomes  even  more  deplorable  when  a  com- 
bination of  men  like  the  public  servants  of  New  York  City  com- 
bine to  force  the  people  of  New  York  to  obey  any  and  every 
command  of  the  Garbage  Men's  Union,  and  prevent  the  removal 
of  garbage  by  assaulting  other  workmen,  until  the  public  health 
is  menaced,  hoping  that  under  this  pressure  the  city  must  yield. 

Combination  in  restraint  of  trade  is  much  more  glaringly 
exemplified  by  unions  in  attempting  to  stop  the  running  of  rail- 
way trains,  involving  untold  loss  of  property  and  lives. 

Many  business  enterprises  have  been  utterly  destroyed  by 
boycotts,  assaults  and  dynamiting  of  property  by  men  "  combin- 
ing" and  acting  to  restrain  trade. 

Such  acts  by  the  Labor  Trust  have  been  committed  perhaps 
a  hundred  or  five  hundred  times,  where  like  acts  were  com- 
mitted ten  times  by  combinations  of  capital. 

All  such  acts,  by  men  of  any  class  whatsoever,  are  selfish 
and  tyrannical.  They  seek  to  deprive  some  other  man  of  income 
and  to  gather  the  extra  dollars  or  emoluments  to  themselves. 

Think  it  over  and  it  will  be  seen  that  if  either  combinations 
of  labor  or  of  capital  were  permitted  to  dominate  the  affairs  of 
mankind,  as  their  leaders  seek,  then  the  things  of  this  world 
would  only  be  enjo}red  by  the  trust  members  and  all  others  must 
go  without. 

Labor  unions  or  railroad  combinations  might  fix  their  own 
prices  for  their  own  service,  but  they  should  both  be  so  abso- 
lutely surrounded  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  either  of  them 
to  control  or  dictate  the  acts  of  other  combinations  or  indi- 
viduals. 

There  are  a  good  many  things  in  favor  of  regulating  the 
railroad  rates  and  the  regulation  by  law  of  wages,  so  that  when 
a  man  desires  to  ship  any  commodity  he  will  know  what  is  nec- 
essary to  pay,  and  also  when  any.  employer  seeks  the  service  of 
a  workingman  he  will  know,  without  question,  what  rate  will 
be  expected.  I  am  not  to  be  understood  as  advocating  this 
procedure,  but  refer  to  it  as  entitled  to  careful  onsideration. 

Naturally,  the  character  of  the  services  would  be  considered 
in  the  fixing  of  the  various  rates  in  both  instances. 

You  doubtless  realize  that  when  any  change  is  proposed  in 
the  conduct  of  social  life,  the  effect  of  the  change  is  liable  to 
be  so  far  reaching  that  in  order  to  do  justice  to  all  and  injustice 
to  none  the  best  intelligence  the  human  race  is  possessed  of  must 
be  enlisted. 


487 

Wm.  H.  Butler,  Manufacturer,  142  West  2ist  street,  New 
York. 

With  regard  to  the  exploitation  of  producers  and  consum- 
ers, my  experience  is  that  one  of  the  greatest  evils  which  small 
businesses  have  to  deal  with  is  the  free  gift  of  articles  or  goods 
(or  certificates  calling  for  them),  to  induce  purchasing  goods. 
This  is  not  fair  competition  nor  is  it  fair  to  the  community. 
One  instance  will  suffice  to  show  why  it  is  not.  A  manufac- 
turer or  seller  of,  say,  dry  goods,  gives  away  with  his  goods  a 
gift  of  a  lamp.  This  places  the  other  manufacturers  of  lamps 
at  a  distinct  disadvantage,  because  if  the  manufacturer  or  seller 
of  dry  goods  is  sufficiently  large  to  make  a  great  gift  of  lamps 
it  injures,  if  not  destroys,  the  business  of  lamp  manufacturers 
other  than  the  one  whose  lamps  are  being  given  away.  It  also 
injures  or  destroys  the  business  of  the  competing  dry  goods 
manufacturers  or  sellers.  A  community  is  supported  by  its 
trade  and  its  taxes.  There  may  be  one  hundred  manufacturers 
of  lamps  and  one  is  making  a  good  profit  for  the  above  rea- 
son, and  the  other  99  are  not.  The  favored  manufacturer,  by 
reason  of  this  unfair  advantage,  can  "cut"  into  the  trade  of 
the  other  lamp  manufacturers.  The  taxes  which  should  have 
been  paid  by  the  99  must  be  borne  by  the  rest  of  the  com- 
munity, and  in  the  event  of  any  one  of  the  99  being  by  this 
method  driven  out  of  business  the  workers  must  find  other 
positions  or  be  supported  by  the  community.  I  would  cer- 
tainly favor  a  law  prohibiting  giving  away  goods  or  articles 
other  than  those  manufactured  or  dealt  in  by  the  seller. 

I  believe  that  the  law  should  say  that  the  purchase  of  other 
businesses  should  be  for  cash  and  not  for  stock,  and  that  com- 
panies should  not  be  permitted  to  issue  more  stock  than  suf- 
ficient to  reimburse  themselves  for  their  cash  outlay  for  such 
purchases.  1\believe  in  laws  that  call  for  publicity  for  cor- 
porations, and  that  all  corporations  should  be  compelled  to  rec- 
ognize the  rights  of  the  minority  by  having  incorporated  in  their 
by-laws  cumulative  voting. 

There  is  economy  in  producing  large  quantities  and  in  dis- 
tribution, which  gives  steadier  labor  and  obtains  the  services 
of  able  men,  and  large  corporations  having  the  advantage  of 
capital  can  purchase  and  control  labor  saving  devices.  The 
small  manufacturer  can  grow  if  permitted  to  buy  these  labor 
saving  devices  and  sell  his  goods.  There  are  many  labor  sav- 
ing devices  which,  patented  or  not,  are  purchased  and  con- 
trolled by  large  corporations  and  which  cannot  be  obtained  by 
the  smaller  manufacturer.  Laws  should  be  passed  prohibiting 
the  control  of  any  labor  saving  device,  whether  patented  or 
not,  by  any  one  concern,  except  where  it  was  developed  by  that 
concern.  This  in  fairness  they  should  be  entitled  to.  Patent 
laws  should  be  so  changed  that  the  owner  of  a  patent  should 
be  compelled  to  sell  everyone  who  wishes  to  use  his  patent  at 


488 

a  price  which  would  not  be  prohibitive,  as  the  intention  of 
the  law  in  granting  a  patent  and  giving  the  owner  an  ex- 
clusive right  to  use  it  was  that  the  community  shall  be  bene- 
fited,, and  the  owner  giving  exclusive  rights  in  it  to  one  person 
or  corporation  does  not  benefit  the  general  community. 

I  believe  that  many  laws  would  be  made  unnecessary  by 
having  a  more  correct  method  of  taxation  in  the  United  States. 
I  believe  that  a  majority  of  corporations  evade  proper  taxa- 
tion in  the  several  States  to  such  an  extent  and  under  such 
circumstances  as  to  make  the  publication  of  this  evasion  a  na- 
tional scandal.  By  reason  of  our  complex  government  allow- 
ing each  State  to  .tax  whatever  it  can  find,  corporations  doing 
interstate  business  largely  escape  taxation  to  the  detriment  of 
those  not  doing  interstate  business.  The  tax  laws  should  be 
changed  so  that  the  tax  should  be  on  the  gross  output  of  a 
manufacturer  or  merchant,  whether  that  output  was  sold  by 
him  or  given  away.  As  it  is  now,  the  tax  is  on  the  net  result, 
which,  every  business  man  knows,  entices  manipulation.  This 
would  result  in  benefit  to  the  smaller  man  who  cannot  afford 
free  gifts.  I  would  not  discriminate  in  this  law,  as  I  would 
make  it  to  cover  all  corporations  and  individuals.  In  addition, 
this  method  of  collecting  taxes  would  be  so  simple  that  there 
would  be  no  likelihood  of  manipulation,  and  the  correct  tax 
would  always  be  collected.  A  manufacturer  or  seller  who  gave 
away  his  own  or  other  goods  would  pay  the  same  taxes  on 
them  as  if  they  were  sold,  and  this,  to  my  mind,  is  apparent 
as  being  of  advantage  to  the  community,  as  a  manufacturer  who 
has  a  large  stock  of  goods  or  advertising  matter  which  he  in- 
tends to  make  free  gifts  of,  expects  the  same  protection  of 
the  State  for  their  value,  even  though  he  considers  them  of 
no  value  to  himself  except  in  an  advertising  sense,  and  he 
should  pay  taxes  on  them.  It  is  a  common  practice  to  charge 
all  advertising  matter  or  goods  intended  for  free  gifts  on  hand 
as  expense  and  thus  reduce  amount  of  earnings  for  taxation. 

It  is  a  common  practice  for  large  businesses  in  order  to  ob- 
tain control  of  a  trade  in  a  certain  section  to  reduce  the  sell- 
ing price .  of  their  product  for  a  time  in  order  to  injure  or 
drive  out  competition,  and  then  when  the  desired  result  has 
been  accomplished  to  restore  the  same  prices  or  increase  them. 
This  could  be  corrected,  if  not  entirely  stopped,  by  compelling 
the  seller  to  make  all  reductions  apply  to  the  entire  United 
States. 

In  my  judgment,  base'd  on  past  experience  and  backed  by 
statistics,  the  one  thing  that  is  responsible  now  and  always  for 
bad  business  in  this  country  is  the  continuous  agitation  of  the 
tariff,  and  this  can  be  remedied  or  corrected  to  a  large  extent 
by  having  a  law  providing-  that  the  tariff  shall  not  be  changed 
but  once  in,  say,  every  ten  years.  This  would  give  us  at  least 
eight  years  of  good  business. 


489 

Amos  K.  Fiske,  Associate  Editor,  "  The  Journal  of  Com- 
merce and  Commercial  Bulletin,"  New  York. 

It  will  be  more  convenient  to  treat  the  claims  of  large  scale 
business  first  and  the  evils  of  combination  and  their  remedies 
as  a  single  topic  afterwards. 

Nobody  denies  the  advantage  of  large  scale  business  in  econ- 
omy of  production  and  distribution,  if  the  scale  is  not  too  large. 
There  is  a  limit  beyond  which  watchful  supervision  and  effective 
direction  cannot  go,  under  the  best  management,,,  toward  secur- 
ing these  results.  The  motive  of  self-interest  becomes  dissi- 
pated and  high  salaries  will  not  fully  supply  its  place.  More- 
over a  sufficiently  large  scale  for  the  best  efficiency  does  not 
imply  monopoly  or  the  paralysis  of  reasonable  competition. 

A  number  of  large,  strong  concerns  in  the  same  field  under 
fair  competitive  conditions  may  be  even  more  effective,  and  that 
without  maintaining  high  prices  for  inordinate  profit,  arrogat- 
ing all  the  advantage  to  the  capitalists  and  swelling  their  wealth 
at  the  cost  of  the  community.  All  the  advantages  of  improved 
methods  and  utilizing  by-products  are  quite  as  likely  to  be 
secured  under  such  conditions.  Because  some  great  trust  has 
grown  up  in  control  of  an  industry  as  it  developed,  and  in  the 
process  of  slaughtering  others  has  used  the  highest  skill  for 
its  own  benefit  in  securing  these  economic  results,  it  does  not 
follow  that  they  would  not  have  been  attained  by  a  large  and 
reasonably  restrained  competition  in  quite  as  great  measure 
without  the  attendant  wrongs.  Even  if  there  were  not  quite 
as  great  economic  results  so  unequally  shared,  the  benefit  would 
have  been  more  widely  diffused;  and  in  any  case  the  end  does 
not  justify  monopoly  methods  of  attaining  it. 

The  same  argument  seems  to  me  to  apply  to  the  other 
"  claims/'  The  scale  may  be  sufficiently  large  for  efficiency 
and  economy  without  the  "  advantages  "  of  monopoly  for  mon- 
opolists, and  under  such  competition  as  would  properly  go  with  a 
large  but  not  excessive  scale  there  could  be  just  as  steady  employ- 
ment and  good  wages  for  labor,  just  as  good  protection  against 
industrial  accidents,  just  as  much  command  of  foreign  trade 
—probably  more  and  better  distributed — and  fully  as  high  abil- 
ity employed.  Under  the  circumstances  in  which  our  great 
combinations  have  grown  up  and  secured  advantages  by  keeping 
others  out  of  them,  there  is  much  fallacious  post  hoc  ergo  prop- 
ter  hoc  arguing  in  regard  to  results,  which  might  have  been 
quite  as  good  from  an  economic  and  material  point  of  view, 
and  much  better  from  the  ethical  and  social  point  of  view 
without  them. 

Turning  now  to  alleged  evils  and  proposed  remedies. 
The  competition  of  States  in  bidding  for  the  revenue  to 
be  derived  from  incorporation  by  means  of  lax  laws  has  been 
a  crying  disgrace  to  our  dual  system  of  Republican  Govern- 
ment; and,  unless  it  can  be  stopped  and  reasonably  uniform  or 
harmonious  State  legislation  based  upon  sound  principles  and 


490 

methods  can  be  obtained,,  Federal  incorporation  will  become 
inevitable.  Necessity  will  compel  it  in  the  interest  of  our  in- 
dustry and  trade ;  but  the  centralization  of  power  in  the  Federal 
Government  is  to  be  deprecated,  and  to  be  avoided  if  fairly 
satisfactory  results  can  be  otherwise  attained.  It  is  a  matter 
to  be  treated  with  prudence,  soberness  and  caution,  and  not 
in  a  partisan  spirit  for  political  capital.  There  is  no  occasion 
for  haste  until  we  see  how  a  consistent  application  of  the  exist- 
ing anti-trust  law  is  to  work  out.  If  there  should  be  a  Fed- 
eral incorporation  act  there  would  have  to  be  an  adminis- 
trative board  to  see  that  the  prescribed  regulations  were  ob- 
served. I  see  no  reason  why  the  plan  of  admitting  State  cor- 
porations under  the  saine  regulations  by  license  for  interstate 
commerce  should  not  go  with  it.  One  need  not  exclude  the 
other,  and  a  test  of  both  together  might  be  well  unless  both 
can  be  safely  avoided. 

The  holding  company  inevitably  tends  to  monopoly  and  a 
scale  of  management  beyond  the  limit  of  effective  direction  for 
the  best  results.  It  is  not  necessary  to  business  on  a  suf- 
ficiently large  scale.  There  are  greater  possibilities  of  evil 
than  of  good  in  it.  I  do  not  believe  that  holding  companies 
are  either  necessary  or  desirable  for  the  highest  and  best  in- 
dustrial and  commercial  development. 

It  is  not  yet  demonstrated  whether  the  present  anti-trust 
law,  as  now  construed  and  being  applied,  is  sufficient  for  pre- 
venting unfair  competition  and  undue  restraint  of  trade,  with- 
out further  legislation;  and,  until  the  problem  is  fairly  worked 
out  on  the  terms  now  presented,  I  do  not  believe  in  complicat- 
ing it  with  new  and  uncertain  factors.  I  do  not  believe  it 
practicable  specifically  to  define  practices  which  are  to  be  deemed 
unfair,  injurious,  unreasonable,  etc.  And  the  contention  that 
men  forming  combinations  or  agreements  cannot  tell  whether 
they  are  violating  the  intent  of  the  law  or  not  seems  to  me 
to  be,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  sheer  pretense.  Men  com- 
monly know  what  they  are  intending  or  trying  to  do,  and  they 
know  whether  it  is  right  or  wrong,  honest  or  dishonest,  and  a 
capable  lawyer  can  tell  them  whether  it  is  lawful  or  unlawful. 
If  they  wish  to  observe  the  law  they  will  find  no  great  diffi- 
culty in  doing  so. 

I  do  not  see  how  overcapitalization  is  to  be  remedied  ex- 
cept through  regulation  by  law ;  but  it  is  always  a  serious 
question  what  "  overcapitalization  "  is.  Every  excess  of  capital 
securities  over  actual  capital  in  casli  or  value  invested  is  not 
overcapitalization.  Sometimes  to  accomplish  a  great,  perfectly 
legitimate  and  exceedingly  valuable  enterprise  which  will  re- 
quire much  time  and  heavy  expense  and  a  gradual  develop- 
ment of  results  to  insure  a  return,  it  is  necessary  to  capitalize 
future  prospects  in  order  to  induce  the  taking  of  risk.  The 
money  may  have  to  be  borrowed  on  bonds  on  which  interest 
must  be  paid  annually,  and  stock  upon  which  no  dividends 


491 

can  be  expected  for  years  may  have  to  be  offered  far  below  par, 
or  even  as  a  bonus,  to  induce  the  taking  of  the  bonds.  But 
this  is  a  question  not  to  be  left  to  the  promoters  or  exploiters, 
but  determined  by  competent  public  authority  under  judicious 
legal  requirements. 

I  do  not  believe  that  present  conditions  would  justify  the 
creation  of  a  commission  to  administer  new  laws  for  regulating 
commercial  corporations  engaged  in  interstate  business,  for  the 
protection  of  minority  stockholders  and  subsidiary  interests  or 
the  prevention  of  "  exploitation "  of  investors.  It  is  doubtful 
how  far  it  could  constitutionally  be  done.  It  is  quite  as  doubt- 
ful whether  its  working  would  be  practicable,  or  beneficial  if 
practicable.  It  would  be  an  experiment  for  which  there  is  no 
present  occasion.  Better  "  try  out "  such  means  as  we  have  for 
protecting  against  such  abuses  as  are  implied  in  this  question, 
or  strengthen!  them  by  judicious  amendment,  before  resorting  to 
any  such  drastic  bureaucratic  measure,  which  would  probably 
prove  either  impotent  or  pernicious.  It  is  always  perilous  to 
try  to  do  too  much.  One  may  succeed,  -with  disastrous  con- 
sequences. 

Presumably  what  is  meant  by  "  exploitation  "  of  producers 
and  consumers  is,  by  means  of  combination  or  unlawful  methods 
extorting  profit  from  the  former  by  putting  down  prices  of 
materials  and  supplies,  and  from  the  latter  by  putting  above 
a  normal  level  prices  of  finished  products  or  articles  dealt  in 
in  trade.  If  this  is  not  what  is  meant  I  do  not  understand  the 
proposition.  If  it  is,  it  seems  to  be  included  under  other 
topics,  and  I  would  leave  it  to  the  application  of  existing  laws 
or  such  improvements  in  them  as  experience  may  suggest.  I 
see  nothing  specific  to  suggest  now. 

T.  S.  Adams^  Wisconsin  Tax  Commission,  Madison,  Wis, 

A  PLAN  FOR  REGULATING  TRUSTS  AND  AMENDING  THE  SHER- 
MAN ANTI-TRUST  ACT. 

I. 

The  fundamental  desiderata  of  trust  legislation  at  the  pres- 
ent time  are  as  follows : 

1.  The  legislation  must  be  politically  possible,  i.  e.,  some- 
thing which  the  people  will  accept. 

2.  It  must  involve  governmental  regulation  and  hence  the 
creation  of  a  new  commission  or  the  enlargement  of  the  powers 
of   some   existing   commission,   but  the    duties    imposed   upon 
such  commission  must  be  limited  in  scope.     Commissions  are 
neither  omnipotent,  omniscient,  nor  do  they  provide  a  cure-all 
for  all  political  evils. 

3.  There  is   abundant   evidence   that  in    some    industries 
monopoly  is  pratically  unavoidable  and  that  in  others  compe- 
tition may  be  trusted  to  keep  conditions  wholesome.    Both  these 
facts  must  be  taken  into  account. 


492 

II. 

The  plan  hastily  sketched-  below  is  believed  in  a  general 
way  to  meet  the  conditions  above  laid  down: 

1.  Permit  the   Sherman  anti-trust  act  to   stand  substan- 
tially as  now  framed  with  the  modifications  suggested  below. 

2.  These  modifications  would  provide  that  any  combina- 
tion or  company  should  be  exempt  from  the  penalties  and  dis- 
abilities provided  in  the  anti-trust  act,  and  should  not  be  un- 
lawful merely  because  in  restraint 'of  trade,  if  it  submitted  to 
regulation  and  obeyed  the  following  conditions : 

(a)  Promise  to  refrain  from  (or,  if  deemed  better,  fur- 
nish evidence  that  it  is  not  employing)  unfair  sellers'  agree- 
ments, unfair  factors'  agreements,  malicious  price  discrimina- 
tion, price  discrimination  between  retailers  who  handle  the 
products  of  their  business  competitors  and  those  who  do  not, 
grant  the  use  of  ^heir  patents  on  reasonable  terms  and  with- 
out discrimination,  and  in  general  refrain  from  a  variety  of 
unfair  practices  which  would  have  to  be  specifically  defined  and 
enumerated. 

(b)  Submit  to  inspection  by  the  commission  hereafter  pro- 
vided for,  and  agree  to  keep  its  accounts  in  the  form  and  man- 
ner prescribed  by  said  commission. 

(c)  If  without  indulging  in  the  unfair  business  practice 
above  described  it  still  retains  control  of  more  than,  say,  40 
per  cent,  of  the  business  of  the  industry  in  which  it  is  engager], 
it  shall  submit  to  the  regulation  of  its  prices  by  the  commis- 
sion. 

3.  To  enforce  the  above  provisions  a  commission  with  pow- 
ers similar  to  those  exercised  by  the  Interstate  Commerce  Com- 
mission (or  better,  the  Wisconsin  Rate  Commission),  and  tak- 
ing over  the  functions  of  the  Bureau  of  Corporations,  should 
be  created.     It  would   be  desirable — but  I  do  not  see  that  it 
is  essential — to  invest  such   commission   with  the  power  to  is- 
sue licenses  to  ensfa^e  in  interstate  commerce.     This  feature, 
I  say,  is  not  essential  because  even  though  the  license  device  be 
not  employed  there  will  still  he  sufficient  inducement  to  bring 
large  business  concerns  under  the  law  voluntarily,  in  the  pro- 
visions of  the    Sherman    anti-trust    act    itself.     Combinations 
which  accepted  the  conditions  of  the  above  act  would  he  ex- 
empt from  the  Sherman  anti-trust  act;  combinations  which  did 
not  accept  the  above  conditions  should  he  vigorously  prosecuted, 
and  if  found  to  he  in  violation  of  the  Sherman  anti-trust  act, 
should  he  dissolved. 

III. 

The  plan  above  suggested  has  the  following  negative  fea- 
tures which  are  believed  to  he  important. 

1.  It  does  not  bring  every  business  concern  engaged  in 
interstate  commerce  automatically  under  the  control  of  the  com- 


493 

mission.  'To  do  so,  it  is  believed,  would  be  to  impose  upon  a 
board  of  fallible  human  beings  an  impossible  task.  It  affects 
only  those  companies  liable  to  prosecution — or  which  believe 
themselves  liable  to  prosecution — under  the  Sherman  anti-trust 
act. 

2.  It  calls  for  no  repeal  of  the  Sherman  act — a  great  po- 
litical virtue — while  it  does  recognize  in  a  sane  way  the  fact 
that  there  may   be  "  good  combinations "  which  are  perfectly 
willing  to  abide  by  reasonable  regulation,  provided  they  are  not 
attacked  in  an  indiscriminate  and  unintelligent  way. 

3.  It  specifically  refrains  from  taking  up  at  this  time  the 
intricate  and  difficult  task  of  correcting  at  every  point  the  exist- 
ing corporation  law.     It  may  be  wise  eventually  to  provide  for 
federal  incorporation  and  thus  go  far  to  rectify  in  a  single  law 
the  multitudinous  defects  of  state  corporation  laws.     But  in  all 
probability  no  legislation  so  sweeping  in  character  could  be  car- 
ried through  at  the  next  session  of  Congress,  whereas  the  trust 
situation — as  distinct  from  the  corporation  problem — is  at  an 
acute  stage. 

Addendum :  In  view  of  the  fa,ct  that  monopoly  may  occa- 
sionally be  established  by  processes  other  than  contracts  in  re- 
straint of  trade  or  by  the  combination  of  business  concerns 
theretofore  competitive,  the  Sherman  act  itself  ought  to  be 
amended  by  a  brief  statement  to  the  effect  that  any  corporation, 
however  created,  which  shall  have  acquired  control  of  more 
than  40  per  cent,  of  the  business  of  any  industry  shall  ipso 
facto  be  regarded  as  a  combination  in  restraint  of  trade. 

F.  Conlin,  Pres.,  S.  L.  Moore  &  Sons  Corp.,  Elizabeth,  N.  J. 

Should  railroads  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 
ing rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the  Inter- 
state Commerce  Commission?  The  question  is  too  broad  to 
admit  of  concise  answer.  The  element  of  control  of  railroad 
rates  is  to  give  all  the  same  rates,  and  by  so  establishing  uni- 
form rates  all  are  under  the  same  conditions  of  competition. 
It  is  better  that  all  can  figure  on  the  same  rate  basis  of  freight, 
and  by  so  doing  there  will  be  a  greater  stability  of  prices. 
The  aim  of  the  law  should  be  for  the  greatest  good  ito  the  great- 
est number  and  equitable  treatment  to  both  railroads  and  pub- 
lic, giving  the  railroad  fair  opportunity  for  returns  to  the  cap- 
ital involved  and  the  public  the  right  to  be  treated  on  exactly 
the  same  basis,  whether  a  large  shipper  or  a  small  shipper. 

Farmers  should  be  under  the  same  control  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  common  good  that  now  exists  with  railroads,  and 
that  should  exist  with  labor  and  with  manufacturing  interests. 
There  should  be  no  class  exempt  from  government  control  for 
the  common  good.  This  ultimately  means  that  our  entire  gov- 
ernment and  communities  of  interest  shall  become  sooner  or 
later  under  government  control  of  intelligent  commissions, 


494 

\vhose  powers  and  standing  should  be  equal  to  that  of  the  Su- 
preme Court.  The  money  power  of  this  country  is  becoming 
so  great  that  the  possibility  of  that  money  power  getting  in 
the  hands  of  unscrupulous  people  requires  a  curb  of  some  sort, 
but  this  curb  should  not  be  a  club,  for  there  is  a  difference 
between  a  big  business  taken  care  of  by  broad,  able  men,  and 
a  big  business  run  by  men  who  have  only  one  object  in  view 
• — the  grinding  out  of  dollars  regardless  of  the  common  good. 
These  conditions  cannot  be  offset  automatically  by  a  law.  They 
must  be  controlled  by  the  judgment  of  able  commissions. 

Excess  in  expenditures  for  development  of  railroad  and 
manufacturing  facilities  beyond  the  earning  or  investing  power 
of  the  country  was  the  beginning  of  the  present  trouble  with 
business.  Want  of  confidence  on  the  part  of  the  people,  in  the 
money  control,  due  to  lack  of  integrity  on  the  part  of  some 
of  the  large  capital  interests,  created  a  loss  of  buoyancy  which 
is  essential  to  progress.  The  great  rise  in  prices  of  commodi- 
ties through  a  desire  of  everyone  to  get  rich  at  once,  and  the 
great  extravagance  created  through  inflated  prices  has  put  the 
man  of  average  income  in  a  position  where  his  expenses,  if  they 
do  not  exceed,  fully  equal  his  income,  so  that  his  spending 
power  and  investing  power  has  been  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
The  adjustment  of  the  ratio  between  earning  power  and  spend- 
ing power  must  become  normal  before  the  country  itself  is 
normal.  The  capitalists,  through  dread  of  legislation  and  with 
the  desire  of  curbing  it,  have  restricted  developments  both  with 
railroads  and  elsewhere,  to  such  an  extent  that  the  manufactur- 
ing interests  of  the  country  are  suffering  severely  through  lack 
of  orders.  If  the  railroads  should  be  allowed  to  go  ahead  and 
spend  money  on  necessary  improvements,  the  manufacturing 
interests  of  the  country  would  revive  to  a  point  equal  to  their 
present  facilities.  The  farmer  has  been  very  prosperous,  due 
to  high  prices.  Manufacturing  interests  have  suffered,  due  to 
restriction  of  developments.  The  present  conditions  of  the 
country  are  not  balanced  as  regards  these  two  earning  powers. 
The  workmen  for  the  manufacturing  interests  are  presumably 
far  in  excess  of  the  number  employed  in  the  farming  interests. 
The  essential  conditions  toward  prosperity  are  so  disturbed  at 
present  that  no  one  man  can  see  the  future  very  clearly,  and 
the  forces  at  work  must  solve  the  problem  in  time  through 
adjustments.  Labor  cannot  take  lower  wages  because  costs  of 
living  will  not  permit  it.  This  means  that  the  dollar  will  not 
buy  as  much  as  it  would  a  decade  ago,  and  we  must  recognize 
that  labor  is  becoming  more  and  more  in  control  of  its  own 
market  value.  The  creation  of  a  Labor  Commission,  adjusting 
differences  between  the  employer  and  the  laborer  on  a  fair  basis, 
is  as  essential  to  the  prosperity  of  this  country  as  a  Railway 
Commission  or  a  Trade  Commission.  While  this  might  mean 
bad  politics  and  may  possibly  be  one  reason  why  the  Labor 
Commission  has  not  been  discussed,  it  belongs  to  the  keystone 


495 

of  the  structure  as  much  as  the  other  two  elements.  The  prog- 
ress of  the  country  demands  a  new  vision  of  the  control  and 
operation  of  its  affairs — one  which  must  be  broad  enough  to 
recognize  equally  the  .value  of  all  the  factors  which  enter  into 
the  ways  of  life.  Accordingly  it  is  our  judgment  that  the 
present  disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  the  fact  that 
we  are  in  an  era  of  readjustment  or  evolution  which  requires 
the  elimination  of  a  mass  of  unwieldy  laws  and  the  enactment 
of  new  laws  which  will  recognize  our  present  development  and 
treat  with  conditions  as  they  now  are,  and  not  what  they  were 
when  the  Sherman  Law  was  enacted  in  the  last  generation. 

We  are  suffering  from  a  reaction  of  a  great  inflation,  where 
the  manufacturing  interests  overdeveloped  their  facilities  to 
cope  with  the  great  demand,  which  was  really  in  excess  of  what 
might  be  considered  an  average  demand.  While  the  manufac- 
turing interests  of  the  country  are  producing  barely  60  per 
cent,  of  its  facilities,  that  60  per  cent,  is  now  equal  to  the 
maximum  facilities  of,  say,  five  years  ago,  but  does  not  by  any 
means  represent  the  profit  or  earning  power  of  that  time. 
Labor  has  advanced  more  rapidly  than  the  price  of  manufac- 
tured product.  It  is  a  question  if  the  manufacturing  interests 
should  have  a  demand  equal  to  their  full  facilities  that  there 
would  be  sufficient  workmen  available  to  meet  such  demand. 
This  is  a  condition  which  in  the  near  .future  will  bring  about 
further  labor  complications,  unless  there  is  some  control,  like 
a  Labor  Commission,  brought  into  use,  with  power  to  adjust 
differences  without  resort  to  lockouts  and  strikes. 

The  Sherman  Law  should  be  repealed.  It  belongs  to  the 
past  generation.  A  law  to  cope  with  the  present  conditions 
would  be  more  desirable. 

From  a  leading  Oil  and  Natural  Gas  Producer,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa. 

Question — Do  you  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now 
interpreted,  is  made  clear  and  workable?  Answer — N"o.  This 
law  as  now  construed  will  become  a  destructive  and  not  a  regu- 
lative force,  and  therefore  is  not  workable,  because  the  thing 
sought  for  is  regulation  and  not  destruction.  It  has  now  a 
heretofore  undreamed  of  force.  It  gives  the  courts,  and  indeed 
thrusts  upon  them,  the  power  of  (in  effect)  incorporating  com- 
panies with  the  power  hereafter  to  tear  apart  what  they  them- 
selves put  together.  Whatever  legal  right  of  existence  the  Amer- 
ican Tobacco  Company  now  has  is  born  by  virtue  of  the  action 
of  the  Federal  courts  and  not  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  any  State 
or  of  Congress.  Thus  the  Federal  courts  become  an  uncontrol- 
lable power  either  for  good  or  evil;  but  even  if  for  good,  the 
action  of  the  court  is  revolutionary  in  the  highest  degree  and 
should  receive  the  serious  and  sober  attention  of  all  our  people. 
But  the  Federal  Courts  are  not  to  be  blamed.  They  were  forced 


40G 

by  the  inaction  of  Congress  in  trying  to  do  what  the  Congress 
should  have  done,  and  I  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  they 
approached  the  business  with  great  reluctance. 

Question — Do  you  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return 
to  what  are  commonly  known  as  old  competitive  methods  in 
business?  Answer — No.  Because  it  would  be  impossible  to 
get  back  to  them  and  it  is  not  at  all  likely  that  one  man  in  a 
thousand  would  go  back  if  he  could. 

Question — Do  you  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law? 
Answer — Yes.  Because  the  law  expressly  prohibits  any  restraint 
of  trade  without  defining  what  is  meant  by  restraint  of  trade. 
The  Supreme  Court  splits  this  idea  into  two  parts — reasonable 
and  unreasonable  restraint — permitting  the  former  and  prohib- 
iting the  latter,  but  the  Court,  like  Congress  has  failed  to  define 
what  it  prohibits  and  what  it  permits,  thus  instead  of  clarifying 
the  situation  it  has  added  one  more  element  of  confusion,  for 
while  Congress  put  the  burden  on  the  people  of  defining  restraint 
of  trade  only,  the  Court  now  puts  upon  them  the  double  burden 
of  defining  what  is  reasonable  and  wrhat  is  unreasonable  re- 
straint of  trade.  By  this  reasoning  Congress  and  the  Supreme 
Court  has  said  to  the  individual  and  the  corporation — you  are 
wiser  than  we  are — so  go  ahead,  but  keep  in  mind  that  some 
day  we  may  change  our  minds,  and  if  we  do  we  will  tear  your 
business  apart,  and  put  it  together  again  in  our  own  way,  regard- 
less of  the  effect  upon  investors  who  have  put  in  their  money 
in  good  faith.  This  may  be  an  extreme  view,  but  it  is  one 
widely  entertained.  As  matters  now  stand,  people  already  in 
business  w^ill  be  obliged  to  blunder  along  in  the  dark  as  best 
they  can,  but  those  not  committed  will  stay  out  until  some 
better  chart  for  their  guidance  than  the  Sherman  Act  is  fur- 
nished by  Congress  and  not  by  the  courts,  for  while  all  men 
obey  and  respect  the  courts  in  the  highest  degree,  yet  they  look 
to  Congress  in  a  matter  so  vital  as  interstate  commerce  to  formu- 
late laws,  and  such  laws  as  the  courts  can  enforce  without  being- 
obliged  to  go  to  every  possible  source  of  light  except  the  law 
itself  to  determine  what  a  law  means.  There  is  no  escape  from 
this  conclusion — no  reading  in  or  reading  out — no  exercise  of 
implied  powers,  no  strained  interpretation  will  satisfy  the  people. 
If  it  is  not  possible  to  legislate  clearly  on  the  subject  of  restraint 
of  trade  (and  it  appears  to  be  so)  then  quit,  and  throw  the 
whole  question  back  upon  the  common  law,  where,  indeed,  it 
practically  is  now,  but  badly  involved  by  the  Sherman  Law. 
A  judgment  of  the  court  based  upon  common  law  principles 
would  be  accepted  by  the  people  as  a  finality,  because  it  could 
be  built  up  logically,  but  a  judgment  of  the  court  based  upon 
an  unintelligible  statute  is  not  satisfactory  to  any  one — proba- 
bly not  to  the  court. 

Question — Do  you  favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law?  If  so. 
in  what  particulars.  Answer — Being  for  repeal.  I  would  not 
favor  amendment. 


497 

Question — Should  railroads  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agree- 
ments affecting  rates  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of 
the  Interstate  Commerce  Commission?  Answer — Yes. 

Question — Do  you  favor  a  National  Incorporation  Law? 
Answer — There  appears  to  be  no  escape  from  it,  if  it  were  desir- 
able to  escape.  Only  a  few  years  ago  such  a  suggestion  would 
not  have  been  considered  by  the  people  at  large  at  all,  but  now 
that  we  are  a  nation  and  not  a  group  of  contending  States,  and 
further,  because  interstate  commerce  in  its  largest  sense  is 
carried  on  as  it  only  can  be  carried  on  by  corporations  of  large 
capital,  it  is  becoming  more  apparent  that  such  corporations 
should  arise  out  of  and  be  regulated  and  controlled  by  the 
Federal  government.  Without  Federal  incorporation  and  regu- 
lation the  confusion  arising  out  of  the  inefficiency  and  conflict 
of  the  laws  of  the  several  States  relating  to  interstate  commerce, 
as  well  as  to  many  other  things  (quarantine  among  them),  will 
still  be  with  us  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  people.  It  is 
illogical  for  the  several  States  to  give  the  Federal  government 
the  power  to  regulate  commerce  between  the  States  and  at  the 
same  time  withhold  the  most  effective  powers  for  such  regula- 
tion. It  is  now  plain  that  the  Federal  government  cannot  regu- 
late commerce  between  the  States  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  whole 
people  unless  it  is  given  the  power  to  regulate  at  their  incep- 
tion the  chief  agencies  of  interstate  commerce,  viz. :  large  cor- 
porations. 

Question — Do  you  favor  a  Federal  License  Law?  Answer — 
As  I  understand  it,  Federal  incorporation  would  include  Federal 
license. 

Question — Do  you  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission 
with  powers  not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers? 
Answer — I  would  favor  it  if  there  were  any  necessity  for  it. 
A  Federal  incorporation  act  would  probably  afford  all  the  safe- 
guards now  required. 

Question — In  your  judgment  what  caused  or  causes  the 
present  disturbed  business  conditions?  Answer — There  are 
many  contributing  causes.  One  of  them  is  the  bad  corpora- 
tion laws  of  the  several  States,  among  other  things,  uncontrolled 
issuance  of  stock  for  property.  Another  is  the  conflict  of  these 
laws.  Another  is  the  inability  of  States  to  cope  with  the  large 
corporations.  Remove  a  few  of  these  troubles  arising  out  of 
the  old  doctrine  of  State  rights  and  the  remaining  causes  are 
only  those  which  arise  out  of  the  natural  fluctuations  of  the 
development  of  a  large  and  comparatively  new  country. 


498 

John  C.  Freund,  Editor  of  "  The  Music  Trades,"  N.  Y.  City. 

It  is  characteristic  of  American  life  that  business  suffers 
when  a  feeling  of  uncertainty  pervades  the  community — when 
even  men  of  large  enterprise  as  well  as  those  who  are  engaged 
in  humbler  efforts,  feel  called  upon  to  be  careful  and  go  slow. 
This  feeling  of  uncertainty,  it  must  be  admitted,  prevails  to-day. 
Some  of  it  may  be  ascribed  to  that  bugaboo,  a  coming  "  presi- 
dential year,"  when  busy  men  feel  disposed  to  hesitate  because 
they  do  not  know  which  way  the  cat  is  going  to  jump  politically, 
especially  when  the  tariff  is  an  issue. 

At  the  present  time  to  this  must  be  added,  as  a  considerable 
factor,  the  suits  that  have  recently  been  brought  by  the  govern- 
ment against  certain  of  the  large  industrial  organizations  known 
as  the  "  trusts." 

The  natural  discussion  which  lias  followed  in  the  press  re- 
garding the  future  of  these  organizations,  the  possibility  of 
adjusting  their  affairs  to  the  law,  as  it  exists  in  the  Anti-Trust 
Sherman  enactment,  and  the  not  unnatural  fear  that  it  will  be 
difficult,  under  recent  decisions  of  the  courts,  for  almost  any 
corporation  to  know  what  it  can  do  and  yet  not  incur  legal 
penalties,  make  it  opportune  to  consider  big  combinations.  I 
shall  endeavor  to  do  so  from  a  viewpoint  which  I  believe  to  be 
new  and  which  has  not  yet  been  generally  thought  of. 

It  will  be  my  purpose  to  show  that  we  have  reached  a  point 
where  business  will  no  longer  be  conducted  on  the  old  lines  and 
methods,  but  on  broader  lines,  and  hence,  in  order  to  emerge 
from  the  present  condition  of  disorder  and  uncertainty,  what  we 
need  is  not  "trust  busting,"  but  a  rational,  intelligent  attitude 
to  the  new  conditions  which  have  arisen,  in  order  that  we  may 
so  influence  legislation  that  legitimate  business  functions  may 
not  be  interfered  with,  and  the  business  world  may  before  long 
be  assured  of  that  peace  and  freedom  from  interference  which 
are  absolutely  necessary  to  progress  and  success. 

To  start  with,  I  will  admit  that,  as  Mr.  Leon  Meyer,  a  promi- 
nent lawyer,  recently  said :  "  There  is  something  fundamentally 
wrong  in  our  present  system  of  corporate  control."  But  I  will 
not  admit,  as  Mr.  Leon  Meyer  also  said,  that  "combinations 
are  bred  bv  the  avarice  of  men." 


In  the  mind  of  the  average  man — who  gives  the  matter  but 
little  consideration,  and  has  probably  gotten  his  views  of  great 
combinations  from  what  he  has  read  in  some  of  the  yellow  jour- 
nals— any  large  organization  in  industry  or  commerce  is  detri- 
mental to  the  general  welfare  and  militates  against  social  well- 
being. 

I  will  not  revert  to  the  fact  that  combinations  were  known 
AS  far  back  as  the  times  of  the  Egyptians,  Phoenicians  and 
others,  and  therefore  they  are  not  anything  new;  nor  will  I  take 
up  the  point,  made  by  many,  that  there  is  a  no  more  radical 


409 

and  offensive  trust  than  the  labor  trust,  and  that  it  is  no  more 
illegal  for  a  trust"  to  raise  the  prices  of  its  products  than  it  is 
illegal  for  the  labor  organizations  to  raise  the  price  of  labor. 
I  do  not  propose  to  enter  upon  these  phases  of  the  subject. 

In  this  article  I  shall  endeavor  to  show  that  to-day  doing 
business  by  means  of  large  combinations  is  a  natural  evolution 
and  furthermore,  when  subject  to  proper  restrictions  and  con- 
ducted on  proper  and  honest  lines,  it  is  a  benefit  to  the  general 
business  world,  also  to  our  social  life — and  because  it  is  beneficial 
it  has  come  to  stay. 

In  olden  days  all  affairs,  whether  industrial  or  commercial, 
were  conducted  by  individuals;  then  came  partnerships;  from 
these  came  the  corporation  by  which  a  number  of  people  could 
get  together,  each  with  small  or  large  holdings  of  capital,  to 
undertake  operations  which  could  not  have  been  attempted  other- 
wise. Even  then  competition  was  severe,  the  waste  of  effort 
and  money  to  do  business  was  enormous.  As  profits  were  grad- 
ually reduced  by  competition,  it  became  evident  that  business 
was  not  being  conducted  on  economic  lines,  and  so  brainy  men, 
seeing  that  even  with  labor-saving  machinery  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction had  about  reached  bed  rock,  concluded  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  formulate  better  and  cheaper  methods,  not  only  of  dis- 
posing of  products,  but  of  conducting  service,  whether  in  indus- 
trial, commercial  or  financial  life. 

The  natural  evolution  was  the  combination  of  corporations, 
which  w)ien  first  undertaken  was  done  to  make  money  by  the 
reduction  of  cost  of  production,  as  well  as  cost  of  marketing, 
and  so  to  gain  a  larger  market  by  cheaper  prices. 

It  does  not  militate  against  the  truth  and  value  of  this  nat- 
ural evolution  from  crude  to  scientific  methods  that  unscrupu- 
lous men  used  the  new  force  to  create  virtual  monopolies  to  con- 
trol sources  of  supply,  to  raise  prices,  to  capitalize  industry  to 
the  limit  of  its  interest-bearing  power,  which  has  been  the  source 
of  colossal  fortunes  of  Carnegie  and  most  of  our  multi-million- 
aires. 


Fair-minded  men — even  those  who  have  been  prejudiced 
against  trusts  and  large  combinations — must  admit  that  there 
is  a  broad  line  of  difference  between  large  combinations  of 
capital,  brains  and  labor  (for  when  we  speak  of  combinations 
of  capital  and  labor,  we  must  also  include  brains,  as  without 
them  both  capital  and  labor  are  incompetent),  which  are  made 
for  the  purpose  of  controlling  all  sources  of  supply,  raising 
prices  of  products,  creating  a  virtual  monopoly,  and  so  exploit- 
ing the  public  for  the  benefit  of  the  few;  and  large  combina- 
tions of  capital,  brains  and  labor,  which  are  made-  to  win  profits 
by  the  elimination  of  waste,  by  better  methods,  by  doing -busi- 
ness on  broader  lines,  and  so  give  the  public  the  advantage  of 
goods  of  better  quality  at  lower  prices,  as  well  as  better  service 


500 

in  transportation,  telegraph,  telephone  and  other  utilities  at 
cheaper  rates,  and  thereby  benefit  humanity. 

If  this  be  admitted,  it  will  be  at  once  apparent  that  it  is 
not  the  large  combination  as  such  that  we  have  to  fear,  but  the 
large  combination  which  is  wrongly  directed  for  the  enrichment 
of  the  few  at  the  expense  of  the  people,  instead  of  heing,  as  it 
should  be,  for  the  benefit  of  the  people,  with  a  fair  return  on 
the  capital  actually  invested. 

Eight  here  we  will  be  met  by  the  objection  made  so  gen- 
erally, that  these  large  combinations  eliminate  competition,  the 
liberty  of  the  individual  'to  do  business;  even  if,  as  in  many 
cases  we  know  they  do,  they  bring  about  a  general  lowering  of 
prices  and  raising  of  quality. 

This  suggests  the  question,  not  alone  as  to  whether  unre- 
stricted competition  is  a  benefit,  not  alone  as  to  whether  the 
opportunity  for  individual  enterprise  should  be  absolutely  free, 
but  it  brings  up  the  very  serious  issue,  which  so  few  have  ever 
discussed,  and  which,  indeed,  is  the  principal  point  of  this 
article,  namely,  "After  all,  what  does  a  man  desire  to  do  with 
his  life?  Are  we  here  to  work  to  live?  or,  are  we  here  to  live 
to  work?  What  is  the  object  and  aim  of  the  average  man? 
What  does  he  want  to  do  with  his  life  ?  " 

I  regret  to  say  few  average  men  could  answer.  Their  best 
reply  would  probably  be  to  the  effect  that  they  expect  to  go  into 
business  or  to  do  something  or  other  in  a  profession  or  to  work 
in  a  factory  or  to  be  connected  with  some  corporation,  because 
they  have  to  live. 

If  you  ask  them,  however,  what  they  get  out  of  their  daily 
work  personally,  most  of  them  would  throw  up  their  hands  and 
say :  "  Indeed,  very  little !  " 

Now,  it  is  my  conviction  that  the  whole  aim  and  purpose  of 
an  intelligent  man  should  be,  through  labor,  in  whatever  line 
he  uses  that  labor,  to  win  social  freedom,  the  opportunity  and 
means  to  marry,  settle  down,  raise  a  family,  have  time  to  spend 
with  his  children,  time  as  well  as  money  to  get  and  read  books ; 
to  give  his  family,  as  well  as  himself,  some  vacation  each  year; 
to  be  able  to  attend  a  dramatic  or  musk-al  performance  occa- 
sionally; to  have  a  comfortable  home;  to  wear  decent  clothes, 
and  to  have  plenty  of  good,  wholesome  food. 

In  other  words,  the  man  who  makes  business  or  work  an 
end  in  itself  misses  all  there  is  in  life,  while  the  man  who  makes 
his  work,  his  business,  or  whatever  his  activities  are,  simply 
a  means  to  the  social  end,  even  if  he  does  not  get  very  far,  gets 
out  of  life  the  real  things  that  life  has  to  give,  namely,  health, 
a  home,  personal  liberty,  family  life  and  opportunity  for  self- 
culture,  as  well  as  for  giving  his  children  advantages  which  he 
himself,  perhaps,  did  not  enjoy. 

Now,  if  this  be  the  better  life,  what  logically  follows?  That 
he  must  use  his  effort?  to  make  money,  to  the  best  advantage. 
Can  ho  do  this  when  business  is  conducted  on  large  and  broad 


501 

lines  better,.. or  can  he  do  it  with  unrestricted  competition  when 
every  man  virtually  is  his  own  boss,  and  the  community  is 
divided  up  into  so  many  warring,  conflicting,  competing  in- 
fluences, where  only  the  very  best  can  win  even  a  fair  compe- 
tence. 

Is  the  social  life,  or  higher  life,  as  I  would  call  it,  best 
served  by  having  a  grocery  store  on  every  block,  a  butcher  on 
every  two  blocks,  dry  goods  and  other  stores  at  almost  every 
corner,  when  a  quarter  of  these  stores  would  be  sufficient? 

And  is  it  not  obvious  that  as  each  of  these  stores  has  to 
live,  to  pay  rent,  salesmen,  that  we  must  have  unnecessarily  high 
prices?  Is  not  the  conviction  forcing  itself  upon  the  commu- 
nity that  it  is  not  so  much  the  trusts  or  big  combinations  or 
the  large  stores  and  their  demands  which  are  increasing  the  cost 
of  living,  but  the  multiplicity  of  middle  men,  of  little  stores, 
all  of  which  have  to  live,  which  have  brought  up  the  cost  of  the 
average  man's  housekeeping  until,  if  he  has  but  a  moderate 
income,  he  can  often  no  longer  afford  even  some  of  the  necessi- 
ties of  life? 

Would  it  be  a  calamity  if  manv  of  these  stores  were  put  out 
of  business — as  indeed  many  are  being  put  out  of  business? 

That  the  public  is  not  always  best  served  by  the  small  enter- 
prise is  shown  by  the  horrible  revelations  recently  made  as  to 
the  filthy  and  unsanitary  conditions  of  the  small  bakeries  on 
the  East  Side  in  New  York,  and  what  is  true  of  the  poorer  dis- 
tricts in  New  York  is  true  of  the  same  districts  in  every  city 
of  any  size. 

And  if  you  ask,  "  What  is  the  condition  of  the  average  man 
who  runs  such  a  store  ?  "  What  is  it  ?  From  early  morning  till 
late  at  night  he  barely  knows  whether  he  will  take  in  enough 
money  to  pay  his  rent.  His  family  sees  very  little  of  him. 
When  he  does  get  home  he  is  tired  to  death.  Cooped  up  in  a 
more  or  less  small  place,  he  does  not  get  even  the  proper  amount 
of  good  air  to  breathe  or  adequate  sleep.  Harassed  with  serious 
cares  because  of  lack  of  sufficient  capital  and  proper  help,  he 
never  really  knows,  from  week-end  to  week-end,  wrhere  he  stands. 
And  if  he  does  pay  his  bills  with  anything  like  promptness  he 
has  always  before  him  the  nightmare  of  the  man  in  competition 
on  the  other  side  of  the  street  or  on  the  next  block  who  offers 
goods  at  lower  prices  because  the  day  of  his  failure  is  already 
certain,  and  he  is  not  always  paying  for  his  goods. 

And  what  is  true  of  the  man  with  the  little  store  is  true  of 
the  man  in  any  other  line  of  business  or  endeavor. 

Let  me  not  be  misunderstood  to  say  that  I  am  in  any  way 
advocating  the  elimination  of  all  little  stores  or  little  efforts. 
There  are  many  which,  in  their  proper  place  and  under  proper 
conditions,  are  a  benefit  to  those  who  run  them,  as  well  as  to 
the  community.  There  are  small  stores  which,  by  intelligent 
buying,  promptness  of  service  and  fair  prices,  cannot  only  make 


502 

9 

a  living  and  do  well,  but  can  do  it  right  up  against  the  bigger 
stores. 

And  what  is  true  of  most  little  stores  is  also  true  of  many 
big  stores,  where  there  is  not  sufficient  brains  or  capital  to  run 
them,  successfully.  It  is  true  even  of  many  corporations,  whose 
stockholders  never  get  a  dollar.  Is  not  the  competition  of  such 
concerns  ruinous,  by  their  failure,  to  well-conducted  enterprises  ? 
Think  of  the  factories  which  arc  always  throwing  goods  on  the 
market  at  less  than  cost  to  stave  off  for  a  time  the  inevitable 
end? 

Is  not  such  competition  ruinous  to  the  well-run  concerns 
which  must  get  a  profit  to  live? 

I  ask  in  all  fairness,  "  What  does  the  average  man  who  runs 
such  a  business,  with  failure  hanging  over  his  head  all  the  time, 
get  out  of  life  ?  "  And  I  will  go  even  further  and  ask,  "  What 
does  a  man,  even  if  he  wins  a  moderate  success,  get  out  of  life  ?  " 

That  is  my  point ! 

He  thinks  himself  a  "boss."  lie  thinks  himself  the  owner 
of  the  business.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  is  a  poor,  miserable 
slave  to  his  landlord,  to  the  jobber  or  merchant  from  whom  he 
buys  or  to  whom  he  sells,  while  his  family  sees  little  of  him, 
and  his  opportunities  for  rest,  not  to  speak  of  social  enjoyment, 
are  almost  nil. 

If,  therefore,  we  consider,  as  the  statistics  will  show  us 
beyond  the  question  of  dispute  or  cavil,  that  the  majority  of 
men  who  go  into  independent  efforts  in  business  or  any  line  of 
work,  do  not  even  make  both  ends  meet,  when  we  know  that 
even  many  large  businesses,  corporations,  do  not  succeed,  is  it 
not  clear  that  these  men  would  be  far  better  off  if  they  had  a 
position  with  some  large  combination  run  with  big  brains,  ample 
capital,  where  when  five  or  six  o'clock  came  they  were  through 
for  the  day,  free  from  anxiety,  and  could  devote  themselves  to 
their  families  or  something  like  getting  a  reasonable  return 
in  the  way  of  rest,  enjoyment  and  culture  from  the  day's  work 
they  had  done? 

*  *  * 

The  order  of  the  day  is,  therefore,  co-operation  of  effort  in 
industry,  commerce,  transportation  and  finance  to  produce  the 
best  results. 

And  while  this  co-operation  of  effort  may  involve  the  sacri- 
fice of  some  men's  vanity,  or  what  some  men  are  pleased  to  call 
their  "  independence,"  the  real  thing  to  be  sought,  namely,  a 
healthy,  sane  personal  and  social  life,  will  be  won.  But  with  the 
great  majority  it  can  only  be  won  by  the  sacrifice  of  a  certain 
amount  of  so-called  freedom,  which,  if  we  consider  it  righthr 
and  know  the  facts  and  tell  the  truth,  is  indeed  nothing  but 
industrial  slavery. 


503 

If  these  views  be  sound  it  follows,  logically,  that  the  great 
combinations  have  come  to  stay.  Because  they  can  produce  bet- 
ter results  with  the  least  friction,  the  least  loss  of  human  effort, 
which  is  a  benefit  to  all;  but  this  should  not  mean  monopoly 
or  the  big  trust  which  defies  the  law.  It  follows  also,  logically, 
that  business  is  not  going  to  be  conducted  in  the  future,  as  I 
have  already  said,  on  the  old  lines  and  with  the  old  methods, 
and  consequently  it  is  up  to  the  intelligent  man  not  to  oppose 
combination  of  effort,  capital  and  brains  in  itself  as  being  funda- 
mentally wrong,  but  to  see  to  it  that  this  new  force  is  honestly 
used,  that  it  is  properly  controlled  by  legislation,  so  that,  instead 
of  being  dishonestly  used  for  the  benefit  of  the  grasping, 
greedy  few,  with  labor  ground  to  the  earth,  it  may,  while  pro- 
ducing ample  returns  for  the  capital  and  brains  actually  in- 
vested, and  with  large  wages  paid  to  labor,  inure  to  the  benefit 
of  the  whole  people,  by  freeing  them  more  and  more  from  toil, 
so  as  to  open  to  them  the  larger,  saner,  nobler  life,  which  is 
the  social  life,  won  honestly  and  without  condemning  others  to 
misery  or  sacrifice. 


APPENDIX. 


507 


THE    SHERMAN   ANTI-TRUST   LAW. 


' '  JL  Bill  to  Protect  Trade  and  Commerce  against  Unlawful  Restraints  and 
Monopolies.' ' 

(The  Sherman  Act,  so-called  because  the  original  measure  was  introduced 
by  Senator  John  Sherman,  of  Ohio,  was  really  the  work  of  Senator  Hoar,  of 
Massachusetts,  and  of  Senator  Edmunds,  of  Vermont,  who  co-operated  in  pre- 
paring the  Senate  Judiciary  Committee  substitute  for  the  Sherman  bill.  This 
substitute  was  finally  passed  without  any  change  by  both  houses  of  Congress, 
and  approved  by  President  Harrison,  July  2,  1890.) 

Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United 
States  of  America  in  Congress  assembled: 

Section  1.  Every  contract,  combination  in  the  form  of  trust  or  otherwise, 
or  conspiracy,  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  among  the  several  States,  or 
with  foreign  nations,  is  hereby  declared  to  be  illegal.  Every  person  who  shall 
make  jinj  such  contract,  or  engage  in  any  such  combination  or  conspiracy, 
shall /be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and,  on  conviction  thereof,  shall  be 
punished  by  a  fine  not  exceeding  five  thousand  dollars,  or  by  imprisonment 
not  exceeding  one,  or  by  both  said  punishments,  in  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

Sec.  2.  Every  person  who  shall  monopolize,  or  attempt  to  monopolize, 
or  combine  or  conspire  with  any  other  person  or  persons  to  monopolize  any 
part  of  the  trade  or  commerce  among  the  several  States,  or  with  foreign 
nations,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and,  on  conviction  thereof, 
shall  be  punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  five  thousand  dollars,  or  by  imprison- 
ment not  exceeding  one  year,  or  by  both  said  punishments,  in  the  discertion  of 
the  court. 

Sec.  3.  Every  contract,  combination  in  form  of  trust  or  otherwise,  or 
conspiracy,  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  in  any  Territory  of  the  United 
States,  or  the  District  of  Columbia,  or  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce 
between  any  such  TeTritory  and  another,  or  between  any  such  Territory  or 
Territories  and  any  State  or  States  or  the  District  of  Columbia,  or  with 
foreign  nations,  or  between  the  District  of  Columbia  and  any  State  or  States 
or  foreign  nations,  is  hereby  declared  illegal.  Every  person  who  shall  make 
any  such  contract  or  engage  in  any  such  combination  or  conspiracy,  shall  be 
deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and,  on  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  punished 
by  fine  not  exceeding  five  thousand  dollars,  or  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding 
one  year,  or  by  both  said  punishments,  in  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

Sec.  4.  The  several  circuit  courts  of  the  United  States  are  hereby  in- 
vested with  jurisdiction  to  prevent  and  restrain  violations  of  this  act;  and 
it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  several  district  attorneys  of  the  United  States, 
in  their  respective  districts,  under  the  direction  of  the  Attorney-General,  to 
institute  proceedings  in  equity  to  prevent  and  restrain  such  violations.  Such 
proceedings  may  be  by  way  of  petition  setting  forth  the  case  and  praying 
that  such  violation  shall  be  enjoined  or  otherwise  prohibited.  When  the  pai'ties 
complained  of  shall  have  been  duly  notified  of  such  petition  the  court  shall 
proceed,  as  soon  as  may  be,  to  the  hearing  and  determination  of  the  case; 
and  pending  such  petition  an«k  before  final  decree,  the  court  may  at  any  time 
make  such  temporary  restraining  order  or  prohibition  as  shall  be  deemed  just 
in  the  premises. 

Sec.  5.  Whenever  it  shall  appear  to  the  court  before  which  any  pro- 
ceeding under  section  4  of  this  act  may  be  pending,  that  the  ends  of  justice 
require  that  other  parties  should  be  brought  before  the  court,  the  court 
may  cause  them  to  be  summoned,  whether  they  reside  in  the  district  in  which 
the  court  is  held  or  not ;  and  subpoenas  to  that  end  may  be  served  in  any 
district  by  the  marshal  thereof. 

Sec.  6.  Any  property  owned  under  any  contract  or  by  any  combination, 
or  pursuant  to  any  conspiracy  (and  being  the  subject  thereof)  mentioned 
in  section  one  of  this  act,  and  being  in  the  course  of  transportation  from  one 
State  to  another,  or  to  a  foreign  country,  shall  be  forfeited  to  the  United 
States,  and  may  be  seized  and  condemned  by  like  proceedings  as  those 
provided  by  law  for  the  forfeiture,  seizure  and  condemnation  of  property 
imported  into  the  United  States  contrary  to  law. 

Sec.  7.  Any  person  who  shall  be  injured  in  his  business  or  property  b^ 
any  other  person  or  corporation  by  reason  of  anything  forbidden  or  declared 
to  be  unlawful  by  this  act  may  sue  therefor  in  any  Circuit  Court  of  the 
United  States  in  the  district  in  which  the  defendant  resides  or  is  found, 
without  respect  to  the  amount  in  controversy,  and  shall  recover  threefold  the 
damages  by  him  sustained,  and  the  costs  of  suit,  including  a  reasonable  at- 
torney's fee. 

Sec.  8.  That  the  word  "person"  or  "persons"  wherever  used  in  thit 
act  shall  be  deemed  to  include  corporations  and  associations  existing  under  or 
authorized  by  the  laws  of  either  the  United  States,  the  laws  of  any  of  the 
Territories,  the  laws  of  any  State,  or  the  laws  of  any  foreign  country. 


508 


THE    STANDARD   OIL    COMPANY   OF   NEW 
JERSEY    FS.   UNITED   STATES. 


Mr.  Chief  Justice  White  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court: 
The  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey  and  thirty-three 
other  corporations,  John  D.  Rockefeller,  William  Rockefeller  and 
five  other  individual  defendants  prosecute  this  appeal  to  reverse 
a  decree  of  the  court  below.  Such  decree  was  entered  upon 
a  bill  filed  by  the  United  States  under  authority  of  section  4 
of  the  act  of  July  2,  1890,  known  as  the  anti-trust  act,  and  had 
for  its  object  the  enforcement  of  the  provisions  of  that  act.  The 
record  is  inordinately  voluminous,  consisting  of  23  volumes  of 
printed  matter,  aggregating  about  12,000  pages,  containing  a 
vast  amount  of  confusing  and  conflicting  testimony  relating 
to  innumerable,  complex  and  varied  business  transactions  ex- 
tending over  a  period  of  nearly  40  years.  In  an  effort  to  pave 
the  way  to  reach  the  subjects  which  we  are  called  upon  to  con- 
sider, we  propose  at  the  outset,  following  the  order  of  the  bill, 
to  give  the  merest  possible  outline  of  its  contents,  to  summarize 
the  answer,  to  indicate  the  course  of  the  trial,  and  point  out 
briefly  the  decision  below  rendered. 

The  bill  and  exhibits,  covering  170  pages  of  the  printed 
record,  was  filed  on  November  15,  1906.  Corporations  known 
as  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey,  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany of  California,  Standard  Oil  Company  of  Indiana,  Stand- 
ard Oil  Company  of  Iowa,  Standard  Oil  Company  of  Kansas, 
Standard  Oil  Company  of  Kentucky,  Standard  Oil  Company  of 
Nebraska,  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  York,  Standard  Oil 
Company  of  Ohio  and  62  other  corporations  and  partnerships, 
as  also  seven  individuals,  were  named  as  defendants.  The  bill 
was  divided  into  thirty  numbered  sections  and  sought  relief 
upon  the  theory  that  the  various  defendants  were  engaged  in 
conspiring  "  to  restrain  the  trade  and  commerce  in  petroleum, 
commonly  called  '  crude  oil/  in  refined  oil  and  in  the  other  prod- 
ucts of  petroleum  among  the  several  States  and  Territories  of 
the  United  States  and  the  District  of  Columbia  and  with  for- 
eign nations,  and  to  monopolize  the  said  commerce."  The  con- 
spiracy was  alleged  to  have  been  formed  in  or  about  the  year 
1870  by  three  of  the  individual  defendants,  viz.,  John  D.  Rocke- 
feller, William  Rockefeller  and  Henry  M.  Flagler.  The  detailed 
averments  concerning  the  alleged  conspiracy  were  arranged  with 
reference  to  three  periods — the  first  from  1870  to  1882,  the 
second  from  1882  to  1899,  and  the  third  from  1899  to  the  time 
of  the  filing  of  the  bill. 


509 

The  general  charge  concerning  the  period  from  1870  to  1882 
was  as  follows : 

"  That  during  said  first  period  the  said  individual  defend- 
ants, in  connection  with  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  Ohio^ 
purchased  and  obtained  interests  through  stock  ownership  and 
otherwise  in  and  entered  into  agreements  with  various  persons, 
firms,  corporations  and  limited  partnerships  engaged  in  pur- 
chasing, shipping,  refining  and  selling  petroleum  and  its  prod- 
ucts among  the  various  States  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  the 
price  of  crude  and  refined  oil  and  the  products  thereof,  limit- 
ing the  production  thereof  and  controlling  the  transportation 
therein,  and  thereby  restraining  trade  and  commerce  among  the 
several  States  and  monopolizing  the  said  commerce.'-' 

To7  establish  this  charge  it  was  averred  that  John  D.  and 
William  Rockefeller  and  several  other  named  individuals  who, 
prior  to  1870,  composed  three  separate  partnerships  engaged  in 
the  business  of  refining  crude  oil  and  shipping  its  products  in 
interstate  commerce,  organized  in  the  year  1870  a  corporation 
known  as  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  Ohio  and  transferred 
to  that  company  the  business  of  the  said  partnerships,  the  mem- 
bers thereof  becoming,  in  proportion  to  their  prior  ownership, 
stockholders  in  the  corporation.  It  was  averred  that  the  other 
individual  defendants  soon  afterwards  became  participants  in 
the  illegal  combination  and  either  transferred  property  to  the 
corporation  or  to  individuals  to  be  held  for  the  benefit  of  all 
parties  in  interest  in  proportion  to  their  respective  interests  in 
the  combination;  that  is,  in  proportion  to  their  stock  owner- 
ship in  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  Ohio.  By  the  means  thus 
stated  it  was  charged  that  by  the  year  1872  the  combination 
had  acquired  substantially  all  but  three  or  four  of  the  thirty-five 
or  forty  oil  refineries  located  in  Cleveland,  Ohio.  By  reason 
of  the  power  thus  obtained  and  in  further  execution  of  the  intent 
and  purpose  to  restrain  trade  and  to  monopolize  the  commerce, 
interstate  as  well  as  intrastate,  in  petroleum  and  its  products, 
the  bill  alleged  that  the  combination  and  its  members  obtained 
large  preferential  rates  and  rebates  in  many  and  devious  ways 
over  their  competitors  from  various  railroad  'companies,  and  that 
by  means  of  the  advantage  thus  obtained  many,  if  not  virtually 
all,  competitors  were  forced  either  to  become  members  of  the 
combination  or  were  driven  out  of  business;  and  thus,  it  was 
alleged,  during  the  period  in  question  the  following  results  were 
brought  about:  (a)  That  the  combination,  in  addition  to  the 
refineries  in  Cleveland  which  it  had  acquired  as  previously 
stated  and  which  it  had  either  dismantled  to  limit  production 
or  continued  to  operate,  also  from  time  to  time  acquired  a  large 
number  of  refineries  of  crude  petroleum  situated  in  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  Ohio  and  elsewhere.  The  properties  thus  acquired, 
like  those  previously  obtained,  although  belonging  to  and  being 
held  for  the  benefit  of  the  combination,  w.ere  ostensibly  diver- 
gently controlled,  porno  of  them  being  put  in  the  name  of  the 


510 

Standard  Oil  Company  of  Ohio,  some  in  the  name  of  corpora- 
tions or  limited  partnerships  affiliated  therewith,  or  some  being 
left  in  the  name  of  the  original  owners  who  had  become  stock- 
holders in  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  Ohio,  and  thus  mem- 
bers of  the  alleged  illegal  combination,  (b)  That  the  combina- 
tion had  obtained  control  of  the  pipe  lines  available  for  trans- 
porting oil  from  the  oil  fields  to  the  refineries .  in  Cleveland, 
Pittsburg,  Titusville,  Philadelphia,  New  York  and  New  Jersey. 
(c)  That  the  combination  during  the  period  named  had  obtained 
a  complete  mastery  over  the  oil  industry,  controlling  90  per  cent, 
of  the  business  of  producing,  shipping,  refining  and  selling 
petroleum  and  its  products,  and  thus  was  able  to  fix  the  price 
of  crude  and  refined  petroleum  and  to  restrain  and  monopolize 
all  interstate  commerce  in  those  products. 

The  averments  bearing  upon  the  second  period  (1882  to 
1899)  had  relation  to  the  claim: 

"  That  during  the  said  second  period  of  conspiracy  the  de- 
fendants entered  into  a  contract  and  trust  agreement,  by  which 
various  independent  firms,  corporations,  limited  partnerships 
and  individuals  engaged  in  purchasing,  transporting,  refining, 
shipping  and  selling  oil  and  the  products  thereof  among  the 
various  States  turned  over  the  management  of  their  said  busi- 
ness, corporations  and  limited  partnerships  to  nine  trustees,  com- 
posed chiefly  of  certain  individuals  defendant  herein,  which 
said  trust  agreement  was  in  restraint  of  trade  and  commerce 
and  in  violation  of  law,  as  hereinafter  more  particularly 
alleged." 

The  trust  agreement  thus  referred  to  was  set  out  in  the 
bill.  It  was  made  in  January,  1882.  By  its  terms  the  stock 
of  forty  corporations,  including  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of 
Ohio,  and  a  large  quantity  of  various  properties  which  had  been 
previously  acquired  by  the  alleged  combination  and  which  was 
held  in  diverse  forms,  as  we  have  previously  indicated,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  members  of  the  combination,  was  vested  in  the 
trustees  and  their  successors,  "  to  be  held  for  all  parties  in 
interest  jointly."  In  the  body  of  the  trust  agreement  was  con- 
tained a  list  of  the  various  individuals  and  corporations  and 
limited  partnerships  whose  stockholders  and  members,  or  a  por- 
tion thereof,  became  parties  to  the  agreement.  This  list  is  in 
the  margin.* 


*First.  All  the  stockholders  and  members  of  the  following  corporations  and 
limited  partnerships,  to  wit:  Acme  Oil  Co.,  New  York;  Acme  Oil  Co.,  Penn- 
sylvania; Atlantic  Refining  Co.  of  Philadelphia;  Bush  &  Co.  (Ltd.);  Camden 
Consolidated  Oil  Co.:  Elizabethport  Acid  Works;  Imperial  Refining  Co.  (Ltd.); 
Charles  Pratt  &  Co. ;  Paine,  Ablett  &  Co. ;  Standard  Oil  Co.,  Ohio ;  Standard 
Oil  Co.,  Piltsbui-gh;  Smiths  Ferry  Oil  Transportation  Co.;  Solar  Oil  Co.  (Ltd.); 
Stone  &  Fleming  Manufacturing  Co.  (Ltd.).  Also  all  the  stockholders  and 
members  of  such  other  corporations  and  limited  partnerships  as  may  hereafter 
join  in  this  agreement  at  the  request  of  the  trustees  herein  provided  for. 

Second.  The  following  individuals,  to  wit:  W.  C.  Andrews,  John  D. 
Archbold,  Lide  K.  Arter,  J.  A.  Bostwick,  Benjamin  Brewster,  D.  Bushnell, 
Thomas  C.  Bushnell,  J.  N.  Camden,  Henry  L.  Davis,  H.  M.  Flagler,  Mrs.  H.  M'. 
John  Flager,  John  Huntington,  H.  A.  Hutchins,  Charles  F.  G.  Heye,  A.  B.  Jen- 
nings, Charles'  Lockhart,  A.  M.  McGregor,  William  H.  Macy,  William  H.  Macy, 


511 

The  agreement  made  provision  for  the  method  of  con- 
trolling and  managing  the  property  by  the  trustees,  for  the 
formation  of  additional  manufacturing,  etc.,  corporations  in 
various  States,  and  the  trust,  unless  terminated  by  a  mode  speci- 
fied, was  to  continue  "  during  the  lives  of  the  survivors  and  sur- 
vivor of  the  trustees  named  in  the  agreement  and  for  twenty-one 
years  thereafter."  The  agreement  provided  for  the  issue  of 
Standard  Oil  Trust  certificates  to  represent  the  interest  arising 
under  the  trust  in  the  properties  affected  by  the  trust,  which, 
of  course,  in  view  of  the  provisions  of  the  agreemen  and  the 
subject  to  which  it  related,  caused  the  interest  in  the  certificates 
to  be  coincident  with  and  the  exact  representative  of  the  interest 
in  the  combination — that  is,  in  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of 
Ohio.  Soon  afterwards  it  was  alleged  the  trustees  organized 
the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey  and  the  Standard 
Oil  Company  of  New  York,  the  former  having  a  capital  stock 
of  $3,000,000  and  the  latter  a  capital  stock  of  $5,000,000,  sub- 
sequently increased  to  $10,000,000  and  $15,000,000,  respectively. 
The  bill  alleged  "  that  pursuant  to  said  trust  agreement  the  said 
trustees  caused  to  be  transferred  to  themselves  the  stocks  of  all 
corporations  and  limited  partnerships  named  in  said  trust  agree- 
ment, and  caused  various  of  the  individuals  and  copartnerships, 
who  owned  apparently  independent  refineries  and  other  proper- 
ties employed  in  the  business  of  refining  and  transporting  and 
selling  oil  in  and  among  said  various  States  and  Territories  of 
the  United  States  as  aforesaid,  to  transfer  their  property 
situated  in  said  several  States  to  the  respective  Standard  Oil 
Companies  of  said  States  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Ohio,  and  other  corporations  organized  or  acquired 
by  said  trustees  from  time  to  time  *  *  '*"  For  the  stocks 
and  property  so  acquired  the  trustees  issued  trust  certificates. 
It  was  alleged  that  in  1888  the  trustees  "  unlawfully  controlled 
the  stock  and  ownership  of  various  corporations  and  limited 
partnerships  engaged  in  such  purchase  and  transportation,  refin- 

Jr. ;  estate  of  Josiah  Macy,  William  H.  Macy,  Jr.,  executor;  O.  II.  Payne,  A.  J. 
Pouch,  John  D.  Rockefeller,  William  Rockefeller,  Henry  H.  Rogers,  W.  P.  Thomp- 
son, J.  J.  Vandesrift,  William  T.  Wardell,  W.  G.  Warden,  Joseph  L.  Warden, 
Warden,  Frew  &  Co.,  Louise  C.  Wheaton,  H.  M.  Hanna,  and  George  W. 
Chapin,  D.  M.  Harkness,  D.  M.  Harkness,  trustee;  S.  V.  Harkness.  O.  H. 
Payne,  trustee;  Charles  Pratt,  Horace  A.  Pratt,  C.  M'.  Pratt,  Julia  H.  York, 
George  H.  Vilas,  M.  R.  Keith,  trustee;  George  F.  Chester.  Also  all  such 
individuals  as  may  hereafter  join  in  the  agreement  of  the  request  of  the 
trustees  herein  provided  for. 

Third.  A  portion  of  the  stockholders  and  members  of  the  following  cor- 
porations and  limited  partnerships,  to  wit:  American  Lubricating  Oil  Co., 
Baltimore  United  Oil  Co.,  Beacon  Oil  Co.,  Bush  &  Denslow  Manufacturing  Co., 
Central  Refining  Co.  of  Pittsburg,  Chesebrough  Manufacturing  Co.,  Chess  Carley 
Co.,  Consolidated  Tank  Line  Co.,  Inland  Oil  Co.,  Keystone  Refining  Co.,  Maverick 
Oil  Co.,  National  Transit  Co.,  Portland  Kerosene  Oil  Co.,  Producers'  Consoli- 
dated Land  and  Petroleum  Co.,  Signal  Oil  Works  (Ltd.),  Thompson  &  Bedford 
Co.  (Ltd.),  Devoe  Manufacturing  Co.,  Eclipse  Lubricating  Oil  Co.  (Ltd.), 
Empire  Refining  Co.  (Ltd.),  Franklin  Pipe  Co.  (Ltd.),  Galena  Oil  Works 
(Ltd.),  Galena  Farm  Oil  Co.  (Ltd.),  Germania  Mining  Co.,  Vacuum  Oil  Co. 
H.  C.  Van  Tine  &  Co.  (Ltd.),  Waters-Pierce  Oil  Co.  Also  stockholders  and 
members  (not  being  all  thereof)  of  other  corporations  and  limited  partnerships 
who  may  hereafter  join  in  this  agreement  at  the  request  of  the  trustees  herein 
provided  for. 


512 


ing,  selling  and  shipping  of  oil,"  as  per  a  list  which  is  excerpted 
in  the  margin.* 

The  bill  charged  that  during  the  second  period  quo  war- 
ranto  proceedings  were  commenced  against  the  Standard  Oil 
Company  of  Ohio,  which  resulted  in  the  entry  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Ohio,  on  March  2,  1892,  of  a  decree  adjudging  the 
trust  agreement  to  be  void,  not  only  because  the  Standard  Oil 
Company  of  Ohio  was  a  party  to  the  same,  but  also  because  the 
agreement  in  and  of  itself  was  in  restraint  of  trade  and 
amounted  to  the  creation  of  an  unlawful  monopoly.  It  was 
alleged  that  shortly  after  this  decision,  seemingly  for  tjie  pur- 
pose of  complying  therewith,  voluntary  proceedings  were  had, 
apparently  to  dissolve  the  trust,  but  that  these  proceedings  were 

*List  of  corporations  the  stocks  of  which  were  wholly  or  partially  held  by 
the  trustees  of  Standard  Oil  Trust: 


Capital 
stock. 


Standard  Oil 
Trust  Ownership. 


New   York    State: 

Acme    Oil    Co.,    manufacturers    of    petroleum 

products     $300,000      Entire. 

Atlas    Refining    Co.,    manufacturers    of    petro- 
leum   products     200,0)0          do. 

American    Wick     Manufacturing     Co.,     manu- 
facturers   of    lamp    wicks 25,000          do. 

Bush    &    Denslow   Manufacturing    Co.,    manu- 
facturers  of  petroleum   products 300,000     50  per  cent. 

Chesebrough       Manufacturing       Co.,       manu- 
facturers   of    petroleum 500,000      2,661-5,300. 

Central    Refining    Co.     (Ltd.),    manufacturers 

of    petroleum    products 200,'DOO      1-67   2  per  cent. 

Devoe     Manufacturing     Co.,     packers,     manu- 

ufacturers    of   petroleum 300,000      Entire. 

Empire    Refining    Co.     (Ltd.),    manufacturers 

of  petroleum  products 130,000      80  per  cent. 

Oswego     Manufacturing     Co.,     manufacturers 

of     wood     cases 100,000      Entire. 

Pratt    Manufacturing    Co.,    manufacturers    of 

petroleum    products    500,030          do. 

Standard  Oil  Co.  of  New  York,  manufacturers 

of  petroleum   products 5,000,000          do. 

Stone   &   Fleming   Manufacturing   Co.    (Ltd.), 

manufacturers   of  petroleum  products...  250,000          do. 

Thompson     &     Bedford     Co.      (Ltd.),     manu- 
facturers   of   petroleum   products 250,003      80  per  cent. 

Vacuum    Oil    Co.,     manufacturers     of    petro- 
leum   products     25,000      75   per  cent. 

New  Jersey: 

Eagle    Oil    Co.,    manufacturers    of    petroleum 

products     350,000      Entire. 

McKirgaii     Oil     Co.,     jobbers     of     petroleum 

products     75, 300          do. 

Standard    Oil    Co.    of    New    Jersey,    manufac- 

tureres  of  petroleum  products 3,000,000          do. 

Pennsylvania : 

Acme    Oil    Co..,    manufacturers    of    petroleum 

products     300,000          do. 

Atlantic      Refining      Co.,      manufacturers      of 

petroleum    products     400,000          do. 

Galena   Oil   Works    (Ltd.),    manufacturers    of 

petroleum    products    150,000      86 1A  per  cent. 

Imperial    Refining   Co.    (Ltd.),    manufacturers 

of    petroleum    products 300,'300      Entire. 

Producers'    Consolidated    Land    &    Petroleum 

Co.,   producers   of    crude    oil 1,000,000      65/132  per  cent. 

National    Transit    Co.,    transporters    of    crude 

oil      25,455,200      94  per  cent, 

Standard    Oil    Co.,    manufacturers    of    petro- 
leum   products ,    400,000      Entire. 

Signal    Oil    Works    (Ltd.),    manufacturers    of 

petroleum    products     100,000      38%    per  cent. 


513 


a  subterfuge  and  a  sham,  because  they  simply  amounted  to  a 
transfer  of  the  stock  held  by  the  trust  in  sixty-four  of  the  com- 
panies which  it  controlled  to  some  of  the  remaining  twenty 
companies,  it  having  controlled  before  the  decree  eighty-four  in 
all,  thereby,  while  seemingly  in  part  giving  up  its  dominion,  yet 
in  reality  preserving  the  same  by  means  of  the  control  of  the 
companies  as  to  which  it  had  retained  complete  authority.  It 
was  charged  that  especially  was  this  the  case,  as  the  stock  in 
the  companies  selected  for  transfer  was  virtually  owned  by  the 
nine  trustees  or  the  members  of  their  immediate  families  or 
associates.  The  bill  further  alleged  that  in  1897  the  attorney- 
general  of  Ohio  instituted  contempt  proceedings  in  the  quo 
warranto  case,  based  upon  the  claim  that  the  trust  had  not  been 
dissolved  as  required  by  the  decree  in  that  case.  About  the  same 
time,  also,  proceedings  in  quo  warranto  were  commenced  to 
forfeit  the  charter  of  a  pipe  line  known  as  the  Buckeye  Pipe 
Line  Company,  an  Ohio  corporation,  whose  stock,  it  was  alleged, 
was  owned  by  the  members  of  the  combination,  on  the  ground 
of  its  connection  with  the  trust,  which  had  been  held  to  be 
illegal. 


Capital 
Stock. 


Standard  Oil 
Trust  Ownership 


Ohio: 

Consolidated     Tank     Line     Co.,     jobbers     of 

petroleum  products    1,030,000     57  per  cent. 

Inland      Oil      Co.,      jobbers      of      petroleum 

products     50,000     50  per  cent. 

Standard    Oil    Co.,    manufacturers    of    petro- 
leum  products .  .      3,500,000     Entire. 

Solar   Refining    Co.,    manufacturers    of   petro- 
leum   products    500,000          do. 

Kentucky: 

Standard     Oil     Co.,     jobbers     of     petroleum 

products     600,000          do. 

Maryland: 

Baltimore   United   Oil    Co.,    manufacturers    of 

petroleum   products    600,000     5,059-6,000. 

West  Virginia: 

Camden      Consolidated      Oil      Co.,      manufac- 
turers of  petroleum  products 200,000     51  per  cent. 

Minnesota: 

Standard     Oil     Co.,     jobbers     of     petroleum 

products     100/000     Entire. 

Missouri: 

Waters-Pierce   Oil   Co.,   jobbers   of  petroleum 

products     400,000     50  per  cent. 

Massachusetts: 

Beacon    Oil    Co.,    jobbers    of    petroleum    pro- 
ducts  100,000     Entire. 

Maverick     Oil     Co.,     jobbers     of     petroleum 

products     100,000          do. 

Maine: 

Portland     Kerosene      Oil      Co.,      jobbers      of 

petroleum    products    200,000          do. 

f        etr°eUm         «00,000      60  per  cent. 

300,000      62%   per  cent. 


514 

The  result  of  those  proceedings,  the  hill  charged,  caused  a 
resort  to  the  alleged  wrongful  acts  asserted  to  have  been  com- 
mitted during  the  third  period,  as  follows: 

"  That  during  the  third  period  of  said  conspiracy  and  in 
pursuance  thereof  the  said  individual  defendants  operated 
through  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey,  as  a  hold- 
ing corporation,  which  corporation  obtained  and  acquired  the 
majority  of  the  stocks  of  the  various  corporations  engaged  in 
purchasing,  transporting,  refining,  shipping  and  selling  oil  into 
and  among  the  various  States  and  Territories  of  the  United 
States  and  the  District  of  Columbia  and  with  foreign  nations, 
and  thereby  managed  and  controlled  the  same,  in  violation  of 
the  laws  of  the  United  States,  as  hereinafter  more  particularly 
alleged." 

It  was  alleged  that  in  or  about  the  month  of  January,  1899, 
the  individual  defendants  caused  the  charter  of  the  Standard 
Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey  to  be  amended  so  that  the  busi- 
ness and  objects  of  said  company  were  stated  as  follows,  *to  wit : 
"  To  do  all  kinds  of  mining,  manufacturing  and  trading  busi- 
ness; transporting  goods  and  merchandise  by  land  or  water  in 
any  manner;  to  buy,  sell,  lease  and  improve  land;  to  build 
) louses,  structures,  vessels,  cars,  wharves,  docks  and  piers ;  to  lay 
and  operate  pipe  lines;  to  erect  lines  for  conducting  electricity; 
to  enter  into  and  carry  out  contracts  of  every  kind  pertaining 
to  its  business;  to  acquire,  use,  sell  and  grant  licenses  under 
patent  rights ;  to  purchase  or  otherwise  acquire,  hold,  sell,  assign 
and  transfer  shares  of  capital  stock  and  bonds  or  other  evidences 
of  indebtedness  of  corporations,  and  to  exercise  all  the  privi- 
leges of  ownership,  including  voting  upon  the  stock  so  held;  to 
carry  on  its  business  and  have  offices  and  agencies  therefor  in 
all  parts  of  the  world;  and  to  hold,  purchase,  mortgage  and 
convey  real  estate  and  personal  property  outside  the  State  of 
New  Jersey." 

The  capital  stock  of  the  company — which  since  March  19, 
1892,  had  been  $10,000,000— was  increased  to  $110,000,000; 
and  the  individual  defendants  as  theretofore,  continued  to  be 
a  majority  of  the  board  of  directors. 

Without  going  into  detail  it  suffices  to  say  that  it  was  alleged 
in  the  bill  that  shortly  after  these  proceedings  the  trust  came 
to  an  end,  the  stock  of  the  various  corporations  which  had  been 
controlled  by  it  being  transferred  by  its  holders  to  the  Stand- 
ard Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey,  which  corporation  issued  there- 
for certificates  of  its  common  stock  to  the  amount  of  $97,250,000. 
The  bill  contained  allegations  referring  to  the  development  of 
new  oil  fields,  for  example,  in  California,  southeastern  Kansas, 
northern  Indian  Territory  and  northern  Oklahoma,  and  made 
reference  to  the  building  or  otherwise  acquiring  by  the  combi- 
nation of  refineries  and  pipe  lines  in  the  new  fields  for  the  pur- 
pose of  restraining  and  monopolizing  the  interstate  trade  in 
petroleum  ;UK!  its  products. 


515 

Reiterating  in  substance  the  averments  that  both  the  Stand- 
ard Oil  Trust  from  1882  to  1899  and  the  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany of  ISTew  Jersey  since  1899  had  monopolized  and  restrained 
interstate  commerce  in  petroleum  and  its  products,  the  bill  at 
great  length  additionally  set  forth  various  means  by  which  dur- 
ing the  second  and  third  periods,  in  addition  to  the  effect  occa- 
sioned by  /the  combination  of  alleged  previously  independent 
concerns,/the  monopoly  and  restraint  complained  of  was  con- 
tinued. Without  attempting  to  follow  the  elaborate  averments 
on  these  subjects,  spread  over  57  pages  of  the  printed  record, 
it  suffices  to  say  that  such  averments  may  properly  be  grouped 
under  the  following  heads:  Rebates,  preferences  and  other  dis- 
criminatory practices  in  favor  of  the  combination  by  railroad 
companies ;  restraint  and  monopolization  by  control  of  pipe  lines 
and  unfair  practices  against  competing  pipe  lines;  contracts 
with  competitors  in  restraint  of  trade;  unfair  methods  of  com- 
petition, such  as  local  price  cutting  at  the  points  where  neces- 
sary to  suppress  competition;  espionage  of  the  business  of  com- 
petitors, the  operation  of  bogus  independent  companies  and  pay- 
ment of  rebates  on  oil,  with  the  like  intent;  the  division  of  the 
United  States  into  districts,  and  the  limiting  of  the  operations 
of  the  various  subsidiary  corporations  as  to  such  districts,  so 
that  competition  in  the  sale  of  petroleum  products  between  such 
corporations  had  been  entirely  eliminated  and  destroyed;  and 
finally  reference  was  made  to  what  was  alleged  to  be  the  "  enorm- 
ous and  unreasonable  profits  "  earned  by  the  Standard  Oil  Trust 
and  the  Standard  Oil  Company  as  a  result  of  the  alleged  mo- 
nopoly, which  presumably  was  averred  as  a  means  of  reflexly 
inferring  the  scope  and  power  acquired  by  the  alleged  combi- 
nation. 

Coming  to  the  prayer  of  the  bill,  it  suffices  to  say  that  in 
general  terms  the  substantial  relief  asked  was,  first,  that  the 
combination  in  restraint  of  interstate  trade  and  commerce  and 
.which  had  monopolized  the  same,  as  alleged  in  the  bill,  be  found 
to  have  existence  and  that  the  parties  thereto  be  perpetually 
enjoined  from  doing  any  further  act  to  give  effect  to  it;  second, 
that  the  transfer  of  the  stocks  of  the  various  corporations  to  the 
Standard  Oil  Company  of  ISTew  Jersey,  as  alleged  in  the  bill, 
be  held  to  be  in  violation  of  the  first  and  second  sections  of 
the  anti-trust  act,  and  that  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New 
Jersey  be  enjoined  and  restrained  from  in  any  manner  con- 
tinuing to  exert  control  over  the  subsidiary  corporations  by 
moans  of  ownership  of  said  stock  or  otherwise;  third,  that 
specific  relief  by  injunction  be  awarded  against  further  viola- 
tion of  the  statute  by  any  of  the  acts  specifically  complained 
of  in  the  bill.  There  was  also  a  prayer  for  general  relief. 

Of  the  numeroi33  defendants  named  in  the  bill  the  Waters- 
Pierce  Oil  Company  was  the  only  resident  of  the  district  in 
which  the  suit  was  commenced  and  the  only  defendant  served 
with  process  therein.  Contemporaneous  with  the  .filing;  of  the 


516 

bill  the  court  made  an  order,  under  section  5  of  the  anti-trust 
act,  for  the  service  of  process  upon  all  the  other  defendants 
wherever  they  could  be  found.  Thereafter  the  various  defend- 
ants unsuccessfully  moved  to  vacate  the  order  for  service  on  non- 
resident defendants  or  filed  pleas  to  the  jurisdiction.  Joint 
exceptions  were  likewise*  unsuccessfully  filed,  upon  the  ground 
of  impertinence,  to  many  of  the  averments  of  the  bill  of  com- 
plaint, particularly  those  which  related  to  acts  alleged  to  have 
been  done  by  the  combination  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  anti- 
trust act  and  prior  to  the  year  1899. 

Certain  of  the  defendants  filed  separate  answers,  and  a  joint 
answer  was  filed  on  behalf  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of 
New  Jersey  and  numerous  of  the  other  defendants.  The  scope 
of  the  answers  will  be  adequately  indicated  by  quoting  a  sum- 
mary on  the  subject  made  in  the  brief  for  the  appellants : 

"  It  is  sufficient  to  say  that,  whilst  admitting  many  of  the 
alleged  acquisitions  of  property,  the  formation  of  the  so-called 
trust  of  1882,  its  dissolution  in  1892  and  the  acquisition  by 
the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey  of  the  stocks  of  the 
various  corporations  in  1899,  they  deny  all  the  allegations  re- 
specting combinations  or  conspiracies  to  restrain  or  monopolize 
the  oil  trade;  and  particularly  that  the  so-called  trust  of  1882, 
or  the  acquisition  of  the  shares  of  the  defendant  companies  by 
the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey  in  1899,  was  a  com- 
bination of  independent  or  competing  concerns  or  corporations. 
The  averments  of  the  petition  respecting  the  means  adopted  to 
monopolize  the  oil  trade  are  traversed  either  by  a  denial  of  the 
acts  alleged  or  of  their  purpose,  intent  or  effect." 

On  June  24,  1907,  the  cause  being  at  issue,  a  special  exa- 
miner was  appointed  to  take  the  evidence,  and  his  report  was 
filed  March  22,  1909.  It  was  heard  on  April  5  to  10,  1909, 
under  the  expediting  act  of  February  11,  1903,  before  a  circuit 
court  consisting  of  four  judges. 

The  court  decided  in  favor  of  the  United  States.  In  the 
opinion  delivered  all  the  multitude  of  acts  of  wrongdoing 
charged  in  the  bill  were  put  aside,  in  so  far  as  they  were  alleged 
to  have  been  committed  prior  to  the  passage  of  the  anti-trust 
act,  "  except  as  evidence  of  their  (the  defendants')  purpose,  of 
their  continuing  conduct  and  of  its  effect."  (173  Fed.  Eep., 
177.) 

By  the  decree  which  was  entered  it  was  adjudged  that  the 
combining  of  the  stocks  of  various  companies  in  the  hands  of 
the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey  in  1899  constituted  a 
combination  in  restraint  of  trade  and  also  an  attempt  to  mo- 
nopolize and  a  monopolization  under  section  2  of  the  anti- 
trust act.  The  decree  was  against  seven  individual  defendants, 
the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey  thirty-six  domestic 
companies  and  1  foreign  company,  which  the  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany of  New  Jerse_y  controls  by  stock  ownership ;  these  thirty- 


517 

eight  corporate  defendants  being  held  to  be  parties  to  the  com- 
bination found  to  exist.* 

The  bill  was  dismissed  as  to  all  other  corporate  defendants, 
thirty- three  in  number,  it  being  adjudged  by  section  3  of  the 
degree  that  they  "have  not  been  proven  to  be  engaged  in  the 
operation  or  carrying  out  of  the  combination."! 

The  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New  Jersey  was  enjoined 
from  voting  the  stocks  or  exerting  any  control  over  the  said 
thirty-seven  subsidiary  companies,  and  the  subsidiary  companies 
were  enjoined  from  paying  any  dividends  as  to  the  Standard 
Company  or  permitting  it  to  exercise  any  control  over  them 
by  virtue  of  the  stock  ownership  or  power  acquired  by  means 
of  the  combination.  The  individuals  and  corporations  were 
also  enjoined  from  entering  into  or  carrying  into  effect  any 
like  combination  which  would  evade  the  decree.  Further,  the 
individual  defendants,  the  Standard  Company  and  the  thirty- 
seven  subsidiary  corporations  were  enjoined  from  engaging  or 
continuing  in  interstate  commerce  in  petroleum  or  its  products 
during  the  continuance  of  the  illegal  combination. 

At  the  outset  a  question  of  jurisdiction  requires  considera- 
tion, and  we  shall,  also,  as  a  preliminary,  dispose  of  another 
question,  to  the  end  that  our  attention  may  be  completely  con- 
centrated upon  the  merits  of  the  controversy  when  we  come  to 
consider  them. 

First — We  are  of  opinion  that  in  consequence  of  the  presence 
within  the  district  of  the  Waters-Pierce  Oil  Company  the  court, 
under  the  authority  of  section  5  of  the  anti-trust  act,  rightly 
took  jurisdiction  over  the  cause  and  properly  ordered  notice  to 
be  served  upon  the  non-resident  defendants. 

Second — The  overruling  of  the  exceptions  taken  to  so  much 
of  the  bill  as  counted  upon  facts  occurring  prior  to  the  passage 
of  the  anti-trust  act — whatever  may  be  the  view  as  an  orginal 
question  of  the  duty  to  restrict  the  controversy  to  a  much  nar- 
rower area  than  that  propounded  by  the  bill — we  think  by  no 
possibility  in  the  present  stage  of  the  case  can  the  action  of  the 
court  be  treated  as  prejudicial  error  justifying  reversal.  We 
say  this  because  the  court,  as  we  shall  do,  gave  no  weight  to  the 
testimony  adduced  under  the  averments  complained  of,  except 
in  so  far  as  it  tended  to  throw  light  upon  the  acts  done  after 
the  passage  of  the  anti-trust  act  and  the  results  of  which  it  was 
charged  were  being  participated  in  and  enjoyed  by  the  alleged 
combination  at  the  time  of  the  filing  of  the  bill. 


*Counsel  for  appellants  says:  "Of  the  38  (37)  corporate  defendants 
named  in  section  2  of  the  decree,  and  as  to  which  the  judgment  of  the  court 
applies,  4  have  not  appealed,  to  wit:  Corsicana  Refining  Co.,  Manhattan  Oil 
Co.,  Security  Oil  Co.,  Waters-Pierce  Oil  Co.,  and  1,  the  Standard  Oil  Co.  of 
Iowa,  has  been  liquidated  and  no  longer  exists.'' 

tOf  the  dismissed  defendants  16  were  natural  gas  companies  and  10  were 
companies  which  were  liquidated  and  ceased  to  exist  before  the  filing  of  the 
petition.  The  other  dismissed  defendants,  7  in  number,  were :  Florence  Oil 
Refining  Co.,  United  Oil  Co.,  Tidewater  Oil  Co.,  Tide  Water  Pipe  Co.,  (Ltd.), 
Platt  &  Washbnrn  Refining  Co.,  Franklin  Pipe  Co.,  and  Pennsylvania  Oil  Co. 


518 

We  are  thus  brought  face  to  face  with  the  merits  of  the 
controversy. 

Both  as  to  the  law  and  as  to  the  facts  the  opposing  conten- 
tions pressed  in  the  argument  are  numerous  and  in  all  their 
aspects  are  so  irreconcilable  that  it  is  difficult  to  reduce  them 
to  some  fundamental  generalization,  which  by  being  disposed  of 
would  decide  them  all.  For  instance,  as  to  the  law.  While  both 
sides  agree  that  the  determination  of  the  controversy  rests  upon 
the  correct  construction  and  application  of  the  first  and  second 
sections  of  the  anti-trust  act,  yet  the  views  as  to  the  meaning 
of  the  act  are  as  wide  apart  as  the  poles,  since  there  is  no  real 
point  of  agreement  on  any  view  of  the  act.  And  this  also  is 
the  case  as  to  the  scope  and  effect  of  authorities  relied  upon, 
even  although  in  some  instances  one  and  the  same  authority 
is  asserted  to  be  controlling. 

So  also  is  it  as  to  the  facts.  Thus,  on  the  one  hand,  with 
relentless  pertinacity  and  minuteness  of  analysis,  it  is  insisted 
that  the  facts  establish  that  the  assailed  combination  took  its 
birth  in  a  purpose  to  unlawfully  acquire  wealth  by  oppressing 
the  public  and  destroying  the  just  rights  of  others,  and  that  its 
entire  career  exemplifies  an  inexorable  earning  out  of  such 
wrongful  intents,  since,  it  is  asserted,  the  pathway  of  the  com- 
bination from  the  beginning  to  the  time  of  the  filing  of  the  bill 
is  marked  with  constant  proofs  of  wrong  inflicted  upon  the 
public  and  is  strewn  with  the  wrecks  resulting  from  crushing 
out,  without  regard  to  law,  the  individual  rights  of  others. 
Indeed,  so  conclusive,  it  is  urged,  is  the  proof  on  these  subjects 
that  it  is  asserted  that  the  existence  of  the  principal  corporate 
defendant — the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  l^"ew  Jersey — with  the 
vast  accumulation  of  property  which  it  owns  or  controls,  because 
of  its  infinite  potency  for  harm  and  the  dangerous  example 
which  its  continued  existence  affords,  is  an  open  and  enduring 
menace  to  all  freedom  of  trade  and  is  a  byword  and  reproach 
to  modern  economic  methods.  On  the  other  hand,  in  a  power- 
ful analysis  of  the  facts,  it  is  insisted  that  they  demonstrate 
that  the  origin  and  development  of  the  vast  business  which  the 
defendants  control  was  but  the  result  of  lawful  competitive 
methods,  guided  by  economic  genius  of  the  highest  order,  sus- 
tained by  courage,  by  a  keen  insight  into  commercial  situations, 
resulting  in  the  acquisition  of  great  wealth,  but  at  the  same 
time  serving  to  stimulate  and  increase  production,  to  widely 
extend  the  distribution  of  the  products  of  petroleum  at  a  cost 
largely  below  that  which  would  have  otherwise  prevailed,  thus 
proving  to  be  at  one  and  the  same  time  a  benefaction  to  the 
general  public  as  well  as  of  enormous  advantage  to  individuals. 
It  is  not  denied  that  in  the  enormous  volume  of  proof  contained 
in  the  record  in  the  period  of  almost  a  lifetime  to  which  that 
proof  is  addressed,  there  may  be  found  acts  of  wrongdoing,  but 
the  insistence  is  that  they  were  rather  the  exception  than  the 
rule,  and  in  most  cases  were  either  the  result  of  too  great  indi- 


519 

vidual  zeal  ill  the  keen  rivalries  of  busines  or  of  the  methods 
and  habits  of  dealing  which,  even  if  wrong,  were  commonly 
practiced  at  the  time.  And  to  discover  and  state  the  truth  con- 
cerning these  contentions  both  arguments  call  for  the  analysis 
and  weighing,  as  we  have  said  at  the  outset,  of  a  jungle  of  con- 
flicting testimony  covering  a  period  of  forty  years,  a  duty  diffi- 
cult to  rightly  perform  and,  even  if  satisfactorily  accomplished, 
almost  impossible  to  state  with  any  reasonable  regard  to  brevity. 
Duly  appreciating  the  situation  just  stated,  it  is  certain  that 
only  one  point  of  concord  between  the  parties  is  discernible, 
which  is,  that  the  controversy  in  every  aspect  is  controlled  by 
a  correct  conception  of  the  meaning  of  the  first  and  second 
sections  of  the  anti-trust  act.  We  shall  therefore — departing 
from  what  otherwise  would  be  the  natural  order  of  analysis — 
make  this  one  point  of  harmoney  the  initial  basis  of  our  exami- 
nation of  the  contentions,  relying  upon  the  conception  that  by 
doing  so  some  harmonious  resonance  may  result  adequate  to 
dominate  and  control  the  discord  with  which  the  case  abounds. 
That  is  to  say,  we  shall  first  come  to  consider  the  meaning  of 
the  first  and  second  sections  of  the  anti-trust  act  by  the  text, 
and  after  discerning  what  by  that  process  appears  to  be  its  true 
meaning  we  shall  proceed  to  consider  the  respective  contentions 
of  the  parties  concerning  the  act,  the  strength  or  weakness  of 
those  contentions,  as  well  as  the  accuracy  of  the  meaning  of 
the  act  as  deduced  from  the  text  in  the  light  of  the  prior  deci- 
sions of  this  court  concerning  it.  When  we  have  done  this  we 
shall  then  approach  the  facts.  Following  this  course  we  shall 
make  our  investigation  under  four  separate  headings:  First, 
the  text  of  the  first  and  second  sections  of  the  act  originally 
considered  anri  its  meaning  in  the  light  of  the  common  law  and 
the  law  of  this  country  at  the  time  of  its  adoption;  second, 
the  contentions  of  the  parties  concerning  the  act,  and  the  scope 
and  effect  of  the  decisions  of  this  court  upon  which  they  rely; 
third,  the  application  of  the  statute  to  facts;  and,  fourth,  the 
remedy,  if  any,  to  be  afforded  as  the  result  of  such  application. 
First — The  text  of  the  act  and  its  meaning. 

We  quote  the  text  of  the  first  and  second  sections  of  the  act, 
as  follows : 

"  Section  1.  Every  contract,  combination  in  the  form  of 
trust  or  otherwise,  or  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade  or  com- 
merce among  the  several  States,  or  with  foreign  nations,  is 
hereby  declared  to  be  illegal.  Every  person  who  shall  make  any 
such  contract,  or  engage  in  any  such  combination  or  conspiracy, 
shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor  and,  on  conviction 
thereof,  shall  be  punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  $5,000  or  by 
imprisonment  not  exceeding  one  year,  or  by  both  said  punish- 
ments, in  the  discretion  of  the  court. 

"Sec.  2.  Every  person  who  shall  monopolize,  or  attempt 
to  monopolize,  or  combine  or  conspire  with  any  other  person 


520 

or  persons  to  monopolize,  any  part  of  the  trade  or  commerce 
among  the  several  States  or  with  foreign  nations  shall  be  deemed 
guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  on  conviction  thereof  shall  be 
punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  $5,000  or  by  imprisonment  not 
exceeding  one  year,  or  by  both  said  punishments,  in  the  discre- 
tion of  the  court." 

The  debates  show  that  doubt  as  to  whether  there  was  a 
common  law  of  the  United  States  which  governed  the  subject 
in  the  absence  of  legislation  was  among  the  influences  leading 
to  the  passage  of  the  act.  They  conclusively  show,  however, 
that  the  main  cause  which  led  to  the  legislation  was  the  thought 
that  it  was  required  by  the  economic  condition  of  the  times; 
that  is,  the  vast  accumulation  of  wealth  in  the  hands  of  corpora- 
tions and  individuals,  the  enormous  development  of  corporate 
organization,  the  facility  for  combination  which  such  organiza- 
tions afforded,  the  fact  that  the  facility  was  being  used,  and 
that  combinations  known  as  trusts  were  being  multiplied,  and 
the  wide-spread  impression  that  their  power  had  been  and  would 
be  exerted  to  oppress  individuals  and  injure  the  public  generally. 
Although  debates  may  not  be  used  as  a  means  for  interpreting 
a  statute  (United  States  vs.  Trans-Missouri  Freight  Association, 
166  U.  S.,  318,  and  cases  cited)  that  rule  in  the  nature  of  things 
is  not  violated  by  resorting  to  debates  as  a  means  of  ascertain- 
ing the  environment  at  the  time  of  the  enactment  of  a  par- 
ticular law;  that  is,  the  history  of  the  period  when  it  was 
adopted. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  sole  subject  with  which  the 
first  section  deals  is  restraint  of  trade,  as  therein  contemplated, 
and  that  the  attempt  to  monopolize  and  monopolization  is  the 
subject  with  which  the  second  section  is  concerned.  It  is  cer- 
tain that  those  terms,  at  least  in  their  rudimentary  meaning, 
took  their  origin  in  the  common  law  and  were  also  familiar  in 
the  law  of  this  country  prior  to  and  at  the  time  of  the  adoption 
of  the  act  in  question. 

We  shall  endeavor,  then,  first  to  seek  their  meaning,  not  by 
indulging  in  an  elaborate  and  learned  analysis  of  the  English 
law  and  of  the  law  of  this  country,  but  by  making  a  very  brief 
reference  to  the  elementary  and  indisputable  conceptions  of  both 
the  English  and  American  law  on  the  subject  prior  to  the  pass- 
age of  the  anti-trust  act. 

(a)  It  is  certain  that  at  a  very  remote  period  the  words  con- 
tract in  restraint  of  trade  in  England  came  to  refer  to  some 
voluntary  restraint  put  b}r  contract  by  an  individual  on  his 
right  to  carry  on  his  trade  or  calling.  Originally  all  such  con- 
tracts were  considered  to  be  illegal,  because  it  was  deemed  they 
were  injurious  to  the  public  as  well  as  to  the  individuals  who 
made  them.  In  the  interest  of  the  freedom  of  individuals  td 
contract  this  doctrine  was  modified  so  that  it  was  only  when  a 
restraint  by  contract  was  so  general  as  to  be  coterminus  with 
the  kingdom  that  it  was  treated  as  void.  That  is  to  say,  if  the 


521 

restraint  was  partial  in  its  operation  and  was  otherwise  reason- 
able the  contract  was  held  to  be  valid. 

(&)   Monopolies  were  defined  by  Lord  Coke  as  follows: 

"A  monopoly  is  an  institution,  or  allowance  by  the  king  by 
his  grant,  commission  or  otherwise  to  any  person  or  persons, 
bodies  politic  or  corporate,  of  or  for  the  sole  buying,  selling, 
making,  working  or  using  of  anything,  whereby  any  person  or 
persons,  bodies  politic  or  corporate,  are  sought  to  be  restrained 
of  any  freedom  or  liberty  that  they  had  before,  or  hindered  in 
their  lawful  trade."  (3  Inst.,  181.) 

Hawkins  thus  denned  them : 

"A  monopoly  is  an  allowance  by  the  king  to  a  particular 
person  or  persons  of  the  sole  buying,  selling,  making,  working 
or  using  of  anything  whereby  the  subject  in  general  is  restrained 
from  the  freedom  of  manufacturing  or  trading  which  he  had 
before."  (Hawk.  P.  C.  bk.  1  c.  79.) 

The  frequent  granting  of  monopolies  and  the  struggle  which 
led  to  a  denial  of  the  power  to  create  them,  that  is  to  say,  to  the 
establishment  that  they  were  incompatible  with  the  English  con- 
stitution, is  known  to  all  and  need  not  be  reviewed.  The  evils 
which  led  to  the  public  outcry  against  monopolies  and  to  the 
final  denial  of  the  power  to  make  them  may  be  thus  summarily 
stated:  (1)  The  power  which  the  monopoly  gave  to  the  one 
who  enjoyed  it  to  fix  the  price  and  thereby  injure  the  public; 
(2)  the  power  which  it  engendered  of  enabling  a  limitation  on 
production;  and  (3)  the  danger  of  deterioration  in  quality  of 
the  monopolized  article  which  it  was  deemed  was  the  inevitable 
resultant  of  the  monopolistic  control  over  its  production  and 
sale.  As  monopoly,  as  thus  conceived,  embraced  only  a  conse- 
quence arising  from  an  exertion  of  sovereign  power,  no  express 
restrictions  or  prohibitions  obtained  against  the  creation  by  an 
individual  of  a  monopoly  as  such.  But  as  it  was  considered,  at 
least  so  far  as  the  necessaries  of  life  were  concerned,  that  indi- 
viduals by  the  abuse  of  their  right  to  contract  might  be  able 
to  usurp  the  power  arbitrarily  to  enhance  prices,  one  of  the 
wrongs  arising  from  monopoly,  it  came  to  be  that  laws  were 
passed  relating  to  offenses  such  as  forestalling,  regrating  and 
engrossing,  by  which  prohibitions  were  placed  upon  the  power 
of  individuals  to  deal  under  such  circumstances  and  conditions 
as,  according  to  the  conception  of  the  times,  created  a  presump- 
tion that  the  dealings  were  not  simply  the  honest  exertion  of 
one's  right  to  contract  for  his  own  benefit,  unaccompanied  by  a 
wrongful  motive  to  injure  others,  but  were  the  consequence  of 
a  contract  or  course  of  dealing  of  such  a  character  as  to  give 
rise  to  the  presumption  of  an  intent  to  injure  others  through 
the  means,  for  instance,  of  a  monopolistic  increase  of  prices. 
This  is  illustrated  by  the  definition  of  engrossing  found  in  the 
statute  (5  and  6  Edw.  VI.  ch.  14)  as  follows: 

"  Whatsoever  person  or  persons  *  *  *  shall  engross  or 
get  into  his  or  their  hands  by  buying,  contracting  or  promise 


522 

taking,  other  than  by  demise,  grant,  or  lease  of  land,  or  tithe, 
any  corn  growing  in  the  fields,  or  any  other  corn  or  grain, 
butter,  cheese,  fish,  or  other  dead  victual,  whatsoever,  within 
the  realm  of  England,  to  the  intent  to  sell  the  same  again,  shall 
be  accepted,  reputed  and  taken  as  an  unlawful  engrosser  or  en- 
grossers." 

As  by  the  statutes  providing  against  engrossing  the  quantity 
engrossed  was  not  required  to  be  the  whole  or  a  proximate  part 
of  the  whole  of  an  article,  it  is  clear  that  there  was  a  wide  dif- 
ference between  monopoly  and  engrossing,  etc.  But  as  the  prin- 
cipal wrong  which  it  was  deemed  would  result  from  monopoly 
—that  is,  an  enhancement  of  the  price — was  the  same  wrong 
to  which  it  was  thought  the  prohibited  engrossment  would  give 
rise,  it  came  to  pass  that  monopoly  and  engrossing  were  regarded 
as  virtually  one  and  the  same  thing.  In  other  words,  the  pro- 
hibited act  of  engrossing  because  of  its  inevitable  accomplish- 
ment of  one  of  the  evils  deemed  to  be  engendered  by  monopoly, 
came  to  be  referred  to  as  being  a  monopoly  or  constituting  an 
attempt  to  monopolize.  Thus,  Pollexfen,  in  his  argument  in 
East  India  Company  vs.  Sandys  (Skin.,  165,  169),  said: 

"By  common  law,  he  said  that  trade  is  free,  and  for  that 
cited  3  Inst.,  81 ;  F.  B.,  65 ;  1  Roll.,  4 ;  that  the  common  law 
is  as  much  against  '  monopoly '  as  '  engrossing ' ;  and  that  they 
differ  only  that  a  'monopoly'  is  by  patent  from  the  king,  the 
other  is  by  the  act  of  the  subject  between  party  and  party;  but 
that  the  mischiefs  are  the  same  from  both,  and  there  is  the  same 
law  against  both.  (Moore,  673;  11  Rep.,  84.)  The  sole  trade 
of  anything  is  '  engrossing '  ex  rei  ratura,  for  whosoever  hath 
the  sole  trade  of  buying  and  selling  hath  '  engrossed '  that  trade ; 
and  whosoever  hath  the  sole  trade  to  any  country  hath  the  sole 
trade  of  buying  and  selling  the  produce  of  that  country  at  his 
own  price,  which  is  an  f  engrossing/  '• 

And  by  operation  of  the  mental  process  which  led  to  con- 
sidering as  a  monopoly  acts  which,  although  they  did  not  con- 
stitute a  monopoly,  were  thought  to  produce  some  of  its  baneful 
effects,  so  also  because  of  the  impediment  or  burden  to  the  due 
course  of  trade  which  they  produced,  such  acts  came  to  be  re- 
ferred to  as  in  restraint  of  trade.  This  is  shown  by  my  Lord 
Coke's  definition  of  monopoly  as  being  "  an  institution  or  allow- 
ance *  whereby  any  person  or  persons,  bodies  politic 
or  corporate,  are  sought  to  be  restrained  of  any  freedom  or  lib- 
erty that  they  had  before  or  hindered  in  their  lawful  trade." 
It  is  illustrated  also  by  the  definition  which  Hawkins  gives  of 
monopoly  wherein  it  is  said  that  the  effect  of  monopoly  is  to 
restrain  the  citizen  "  from  the  freedom  of  manufacturing  or 
trading  which  he  had  before."  And  see  especially  the  opinion 
of  Parker,  C.  J.,  in  Mitchell  vs.  Reynolds  (1711,  1  P.  Williams, 
181),  where  a  classification  is  made  of  monopoly  which  brings 
it  generically  within  the  description  of  restraint  of  trade. 


523 

Generalizing  these  considerations,,  the  situation  is  this:  (1) 
That  by  the  common  law  monopolies  were  unlawful  because  of 
their  restriction  upon  individual  freedom  of  contract  and  their 
injury  to  the  public;  (2)  that  as  to  necessaries  of  life  the  free- 
dom of  the  individual  to  deal  was  restricted  where  the  nature 
and  character  of  the  dealing  was  such  as  to  engender  the  pre- 
sumption of  in'-ent  to  bring  about  at  least  one  of  the  injuries 
which  it  was  deemed  would  result  from  monopoly,  that  is,  an 
undue  enhancement  of  price;  (3)  that  to  protect  the  freedom 
of  contract  of  the  individual  not  only  in  his  own  interest,  but 
principally  in  the  interest  of  the  common  weal,  a  contract  of 
an  individual  by  which  he  put  an  unreasonable  restraint  upon 
himself  as  to  carrying  011  his  trade  or  business  was  void.  And 
that  at  common  law  the  evils  consequent  upon  engrossing,  etc., 
caused  those  things  to  be  treated  as  coming  within  monopoly 
and  sometimes  to  be  called  monopoly,  and  the  same  considera- 
tions caused  monopoly  because  of  its  operation  and  effect,  to  be 
brought  within  and  spoke  of  generally  as  impeding  the  due 
course  of  or  being  in  restraint  of  trade. 

From  the  development  of  more  accurate  economic  concep- 
tions and  the  changes  in  conditions  of  society  it  came  to  be  recog- 
nized that  the  acts  prohibited  by  the  engrossing,  forestalling, 
etc.,  statutes  did  not  have  the  harmful  tendency  which  they  were 
presumed  to  have  when  the  legislation  concerning  them  was  en- 
acted, and  therefore  did  not  justify  the  presumption  which  had 
previously  been  deduced  from  them,  but,  on  the  contrary,  such 
acts  tended  to  fructify  and  develop  trade.  See  the  statutes  of 
12  George  III.,  chapter  71,  enacted  in  1772,  and  statute  of  7 
and  8  Victoria,  chapter  24,  enacted  in  1844,  repealing  the  pro- 
hibitions against  engrossing,  forestalling,  etc.,  upon  the  express 
ground  that  the  prohibited  acts  had  come  to  be  considered  as 
favorable  to  the  development  of  and  not  in  restraint  of  trade. 
It  is  remarkable  that  nowhere  at  common  law  can  there  be  found 
a  prohibition  against  the  creation  of  monopoly  by  an  individual. 
This  would  seem  to  manifest,  either  consciously  or  intuitively, 
a  profound  conception  as  to  the  inevitable  operation  of  economic 
forces  and  the  equipoise  or  balance  in  favor  of  the  protection 
of  the  rights  of  individuals  which  resulted.  That  is  to  say, 
as  it  was  deemed  that  monopoly  in  the  concrete  could  only  arise 
from  an  act  of  sovereign  power,  and,  such  sovereign  power  being 
restrained,  prohibitions  as  to  individuals  were  directed  not 
against  the  creation  of  monopoly,  but  were  only  applied  to  such 
acts  in  relation  to  particular  subjects  as  to  which  it  was  deemed, 
if  not  restrained,  some  of  the  consequences  of  monopoly  might 
result.  After  all,  this  was  but  an  instinctive  recognition  of  the 
truisms  that  the  course  of  trade  could  not  be  made  free  by  ob- 
structing it,  and  that  an  individual's  right  to  trade  could  not 
be  protected  by  destroying  such  right. 

From  the  review  just  made  it  clearly  results  that,  outside  of 
the  restrictions  resulting  from  the  want  of  power  in  an  indi- 


524 

vidual  to  voluntarily  and  unreasonably  restrain  his  right  to 
carry  on  his  trade  or  business,  and  outside  of  the  want  of  right 
to  restrain  the  free  course  of  trade  by  contracts  or  acts  which 
implied  a  wrongful  purpose,  freedom  to  contract  and  to  abstain 
from  contracting  and  to  exercise  every  reasonable  right  incident 
thereto  became  the  rule  in  the  English  law.  The  scope  and  effect 
of  this  freedom  to  trade  and  contract  is  clearly  shown  by  the 
decision  in  Mogul  Steamship  Company  vs.  McGregor  (1891, 
A.  C.,  25).  While  it  is  true  that  the  decision  of  the  House  of 
Lords  in  the  case  in  question  was  announced  shortly  after  the 
passage  of  the  anti-trust  act,  it  serves -reflexly  to  show  the 
exact  state  of  the  law  in  England  at  the  time  the  anti-trust 
statute  was  enacted. 

In  this  country  also  the  acts  from  which  it  was  deemed  there 
resulted  a  part,  if  not  all,  of  the  injurious  consequences  ascribed 
to  monopoly  came  to  be  referred  to  as  a  monopoly  itself.  In 
other  words,  here,  as  had  been  the  case  in  England,  practical 
common  sense  caused  attention  to  be  concentrated  not  upon  the 
theoretically  correct  name  to  be  given  to  the  condition  or  acts 
which  gave  rise  to  a  harmful  result,  but  to  the  result  itself  and 
to  the  remedying  of  the  evils  which  it  produced.  The  statement 
just  made  is  illustrated  by  an  early  statute  of  the  Province  of 
Massachusetts — that  is,  chapter  31  of  the  laws  of  1778-79,  by 
which  monopoly  and  forestalling  were  expressly  treated  as  one 
and  the  same  thing. 

It  is  also  true  that  while  the  principles  concerning  contracts 
in  restraint  of  trade — that  is,  voluntary  restraint  put  by  a  person 
on  his  right  to  pursue  his  calling,  hence  only  operating  sub- 
jectively— came  generally  to  be  recognized  in  accordance  with 
the  English  rule;  it  came,  moreover,  to  pass  that  contracts  or 
acts  which,  it  was  considered,  had  a  monopolistic  tendency,  espe- 
cially those  which  were  thought  to  unduly  diminish  competition 
and  hence  to  enhance  prices — in  other  words,  to  monopolize — 
came  also  in  a  generic  sense  to  be  spoken  of  and  treated  as  they 
had  been  in  England,  as  restricting  the  due  course  of  trade, 
and  therefore  as  being  in  restraint  of  trade.  The  dread  of  mo- 
nopoly as  an  emanation  of  governmental  power,  while  it  passed 
at  an  early  date  out  of  mind  in  this  country,  as  a  result  of  the 
structure  of  our  government,  did  not  serve  to  assuage  the  fear 
as  to  the  evil  consequences  which  might  arise  from  the  acts  of 
individuals  producing  or  tending  to  produce  the  consequences 
of  monopoly.  It  resulted  that  treating  such  acts  as  we  have  said 
as  amounting  to  monopoly,  sometimes  constitutional  restrictions, 
against  legislative  enactments  or  judicial  decisions,  served  to 
enforce  and  illustrate  the  purpose  to  prevent  the  occurrence  of 
the  evils  recognized  in  the  mother  country  as  consequent  upon 
monopoly,  by  providing  against  contracts  or  acts  of  individuals 
or  combinations  of  individuals  or  corporations  deemed  to  be 
conducive  to  such  results.  To  refer  to  the  constitutional  or 
legislative  provisions  on  the  subject  or  the  many  judicial  de- 


cisions  which  illustrate  it  would  unnecessarily  prolong  this 
opinion.  We  append  in  the  margin  a  note  to  treaties,  etc., 
wherein  are  contained  references  to  constitutional  and  statutory 
provisions  and  to  numerous  decisions,  etc.,  relating  to  the 
subject.* 

It  will  be  found  that  as  modern  conditions  arose  the  trend 
of  legislation  and  judicial  decision  came  more  and  more  to  adapt 
the  recognized  restrictions  to  new  manifestations  of  conduct 
or  of  dealing  which  it  was  thought  justified  the  inference  of 
intent  to  do  the  wrongs  which  it  had  been  the  purpose  to  pre* 
vent  from  the  beginning.  The  evolution  is  clearly  pointed  out 
in  National  Cotton  Oil  Co.  vs.  Texas  (197  U.  S.,  115)  and 
Shawnee  Compress  Co.  vs.  Anderson  (209  U.  S.,  423)  ;  and, 
indeed,  will  be  found  to  be  illustrated  in  various  aspects  by  the 
decisions  of  this  court  which  have  been  concerned  with  the  en- 
forcement of  the  act  we  are  now  considering. 

Without  going  into  detail  and  but  very  briefly  surveying  the 
whole  field,  it  may  be,  with  accuracy,  said  that  the  dread  of  en- 
hancement of  prices  and  of  other  wrongs  which  it  was  thought 
would  flow  from  the  undue  limitation  on  competitive  conditions 
caused  by  contracts  or  other  acts  of  individuals  or  corporations, 
led,  as  a  matter  of  public  policy,  to  the  prohibition  or  treating 
as  illegal  all  contracts  or  acts  which  were  unreasonably  restrict- 
ive of  competitive  conditions,  either  from  the  nature  or  char- 
acter of  the  contract  or  act  or  where  the  surrounding  circum- 
stances were  such  as  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  they  had  not 
been  entered  into  or  performed  with  the  legitimate  purpose  of 
reasonably  forwarding  personal  interest  and  developing  trade, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  were  of  such  a  character  as  to  give  rise 
to  the  inference  or  presumption  that  they  had  been  entered  into 
or  done  with  the  intent  to  do  wrong  to  the  general  public  and 
to  limit  the  right  of  individuals,  thus  restraining  the  free  flow 
of  commerce  and  tending  to  bring  about  the  evils,  such  as  en- 
hancement of  prices,  which  were  considered  to  be  against  public 
policy.  It  is  equally  true  to  say  that  the  survey  of  the  legisla- 
tion in  this  country  on  this  subject  from  the  beginning  will 
show,  depending,  as  it  did,  upon  the  economic  conceptions  which 
obtained  at  the  time  when  the  legislation  was  adopted  or  ju- 
dicial decision  was  rendered,  that  contracts  or  acts  were  at  one 
time  deemed  to  be  of  such  a  character  as  to  justify  the  infer- 
ence of  wrongful  intent  which  were  at  another  period  thought 
not  to  be  of  that  character.  But  this  again,  as  we  have  seen, 
simply  followed  the  line  of  development  of  the  law  of  England. 

Let  us  consider  the  language  of  the  first  and  second  sections, 
guided  by  the  principle  that  where  words  are  employed  in  a 
statute  which  had  at  the  time  a  well-known  meaning  at  com- 
mon law  or  in  the  law  of  this  country  they  are  presumed  to 

*Purdy's  Beach  on  Private  Corporations,  vol.  2,  pp.  1403  et  seq.,  chapter 
on  Trusts  and  Monopolies;  Oooke  on  Trade  and  Labor  Combinations,  App. 
II.,  pp.  194-195;  Am.  &  Eng.  Ency.  Law,  2d  ed.,  article  "  Monopolies  and 
Trusts,"  pp.  844  et  seq. 


52(> 

have  been  used  in  that  sense,  unless  the  context  compels  to  the 
contrary.* 

As  to  the  first  section,  the  words  to  be  interpreted  are : 
"  Every  contract,  combination  in  the  form  of  trust  or  otherwise, 
or  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  *  *  *  is 
hereby  declared  to  be  illegal."  As  there  is  no  room  for  dispute 
that  the  statute  was  intended  to  formulate  a  rule  for  the  regu- 
lation of  interstate  and  foreign  commerce,  the  question  is.  What 
was  the  rule  which  it  adopted? 

In  view  of  the  common  law  and  the  law  in  this  country  as 
to  restraint  of  trade,  which  we  have  reviewed,  and  the  illumi- 
nating effect  which  that  history  must  have  under  the  rule  to 
which  we  have  referred,  we  think  it  results: 

(a)  That  the  context  manifests  that  the  statute  was  drawn 
in  the  light  of  the  existing  practical  conception  of  the  law  of 
restraint  of  trade,  because  it  groups  as  within  that  class  not  only 
contracts  which  were  in  restraint  of  trade  in  the  subjective 
sense,  but  all  contracts  or  acts  which  theoretically  were  attempts 
to  monopolize,  yet  which  in  practice  had  come  to  be  considered 
as  in  restraint  of  trade  in  a  broad  sense. 

(6)  That  in  view  of  the  many  new  forms  of  contracts  and 
combinations  which  were  being  evolved  from  existing  economic 
conditions,  it  was  deemed  essential  by  an  all-embracing  enumera- 
tion to  make  sure  that  no  form  of  contract  or  combination  by 
which  an  undue  restraint  of  interstate  or  foreign  commerce 
was  brought  about  could  save  such  restraint  from  condemna- 
tion. The  statute  under  this  view  evidences  the  intent  not  to 
restrain  the  right  to  make  and  enforce  contracts,  whether  result- 
ing from  combinations  or  otherwise,  which  did  not  unduly 
restrain  interstate  or  foreign  commerce,  but  to  protect  that  com- 
merce from  being  restrained  by  methods,  whether  old  or  new, 
which  would  constitute  an  interference  that  is  an  undue  restraint. 
(c)  And  the  contracts  or  acts  embraced  in  the  provision 
were  not  expressly  defined,  since  the  enumeration  addressed  itself 
simply  to  classes  of  acts,  those  classes  being  broad  enough  to 
embrace  every  conceivable  contract  or  combination  which  could 
be  made  concerning  trade  or  commerce  or  the  subjects  of  such 
commerce,  and  thus  caused  any  act  done  by  any  of  the  enumer- 
ated methods  anywhere  in  the  whole  field  of  human  activity  to 
be  illegal  if  in  restraint  of  trade,  it  inevitably  follows  that  the 
provision  necessarily  called  for  the  exercise  of  judgment  which 
required  that  some  standard  should  be  resorted  to  for  the  pur- 
pose of  determining  whether  the  prohibitions  contained  in  the 
statute  had  or  had  not  in  any  given  case  been  violated.  Thus 
not  specifying,  but  indubitably  contemplating  and  requiring  a 
standard,  it  follows  that  it  was  intended  that  the  standard  of 
reason  which  had  been  applied  at  the  common  law  and  in  this 


*Swearingen  vs.  United  States  (161  U.  S.,  466):  United  States  vs  Won?: 
Kim  Ark  (169  U.  S.,  649);  Keck  vs.  United  States  (172  U.  S.,  440):  Kepner 
vs.  United  States  (195  U.  S.,  126). 


527 

country  in  dealing  with  subjects  of  the  character  embraced  by 
the  statute  was  intended  to  be  the  measure  used  for  the  purpose 
of  determining  whether  in  a  given  case  a  particular  act  had 
or  had  not  brought  about  the  wrong  against  which  the  statute 
provided. 

And  a  consideration  of  the  text  of  the  second  section  serves 
to  establish  that  it  was  intended  to  supplement  the  first  and  to 
make  sure  that  by  no  possible  guise  could  the  public  policy 
embodied  in  the  first  section  be  frustrated  or  evaded.  The  pro- 
hibitions of  the  second  embrace  "  Every  person  who  shall  mo- 
nopolize, or  attempt  to  monopolize,  or  combine  or  conspire  with 
any  other  person  or  persons  to  monopolize,  any  part  of  the  trade 
or  commerce  among  the  several  States,  or  with  foreign  nations 
*  *  *."  By  reference  to  the  terms  of  section  8  it  is  certain 
that  the  word  "  person  "  clearly  implies  a  corporation  as  well 
as  an  individual. 

The  commerce  referred  to  by  the  words  "in  part"  be  con- 
strued in  the  light  of  the  manifest  purpose  of  the  statute  has 
both  a  geographical  and  a  distributive  significance — that  is,  it 
includes  any  portion  of  the  United  States  and  any  one  of  the 
classes  of  things  forming  a  part  of  interstate  or  foreign  com- 
merce. 

Undoubtedly,  the  words  "  to  monopolize "  and  "  monopo- 
lize "  #s  used  in  the  section  reach  every  act  bringing  about  the 
prohibited  results.  The  ambiguity,  if  any,  is  involved  in  deter- 
mining what  is  intended  by  monopolize.  But  this  ambiguity 
is  readily  dispelled  in  the  light  of  the  previous  history  of  the  law 
of  restraint  of  trade  to  which  we  have  referred  and  the  indica- 
tion which  it  gives  of  the  practical  evolution  by  which  monopoly 
and  the  acts  which  produce  the  same  results  as  monopoly — 
that  is,  an  undue  restraint  of  the  course  of  trade — all  came  to 
be  spoken  of  as  and  to  be,  indeed,  s}^nonymous  with  restraint 
of  trade.  In  other  words,  having  by  the  first  section  forbidden 
all  means  of  monopolizing  trade — that  is,  unduly  restraining 
it  by  means  of  every  contract,  combination,  etc. — the  second  sec- 
tion seeks,  if  possible,  to  make  the  prohibitions  of  the  act  all 
the  more  complete  and  perfect  by  embracing  all  attempts  to 
reach  the  end  prohibited  by  the  first  section — that  is,  restraints 
of  trade — by  any  attempt  to  monopolize,  or  monopolization 
thereof,  even  although  the  acts  by  which  such  results  are 
attempted  to  be  brought  about  or  are  brought  about  be  not 
embraced  within  the  general  enumeration  of  the  first  section. 
And,  of  course,  when  the  second  section  is  thus  harmonized  with 
and  made,  as  it  was  intended  to  be,  the  complement  of  the  first, 
it  becomes  obvious  that  the  criteria  to  be  resorted  to  in  any 
given  case  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  whether  violations 
of  the  section  have  been  committed  is  the  rule  of  reason  guided 
by  the  established  law  and  by  the  plain  duty  to  enforce  the 
prohibitions  of  the  act  and  thus  the  public  policy  which  its 
restrictions  were  obviously  enacted  to  subserve.  And  it  is  worthy 


528 

of  observation,  as  we  have  previously  remarked  concerning  the 
common  law,  that  although  the  statute,  by  the  comprehensive- 
ness of  the  enumerations  embodied  in  both  the  first  and  second 
sections,  makes  it  certain  that  its  purpose  was  to  prevent  undue 
restraints  of  every  kind  or  nature,  nevertheless,  by  the  omis- 
sion of  any  direct  prohibition  against  monopoly  in  the  concrete, 
it  indicates  a  consciousness  that  the  freedom  of  the  individual 
right  to  contract,  when  not  unduly  or  improperly  exercised, 
was  the  most  efficient  means  for  the  prevention  of  monopoly, 
since  the  operation  of  the  centrifugal  and  centripetal  forces 
resulting  from  the  right  to  freely  contract  was  the  means  by 
which  monopoly  would  be  inevitably  prevented  if  no  extraneous 
or  sovereign  power  imposed  it  and  no  right  to  make  unlawful 
contracts  having  a  monopolistic  tendency  were  permitted.  In 
other  words,  that  freedom  to  contract  was  the  essence  of  free- 
dom from  undue  restraint  on  the  right  to  contract. 

Clear  as  it  seems  to  us  is  the  meaning  of  the  provisions  of 
the  statute,  in  the  light  of  the  review  which  we  have  made, 
nevertheless  before  definitely  applying  that  meaning  it  behooves 
us  to  consider  the  contentions  urged  on  one  side  or  the  other 
concerning  the  meaning  of  the  statute,  which,  if  maintained, 
would  give  to  it  in  some  aspects  a  much  wider  and  in  every 
view  at  least  a  somewhat  different  significance.  And  to  do  this 
brings  us  to  the  second  question,  which,  at  the  outset,  we  have 
stated  it  was  our  purpose  to  consider  and  dispose  of. 

Second — The  contentions  of  the  parties  as  to  the  meaning 
of  the  statute  and  the  decisions  of  this  court  relied  upon  con- 
cerning those  contentions. 

In  substance,  the  propositions  urged  by  the  government  are 
reducible  to  this:  That  the  language  of  the  statute  embraces 
every  contract,  combination,  etc.,  in  restraint  of  trade,  and  hence 
its  text  leaves  no  room  for  the  exercise  of  judgment,  but  simply 
imposes  the  plain  duty  of  applying  its  prohibitions  to  every  case 
within  its  literal  language.  The  error  involved  lies  in  assum- 
ing the  matter  to  be  decided.  This  is  true  because,  as  the  acts 
which  may  come  under  the  classes  stated  in  the  first  section 
and  the  restraint  of  trade  which  that  section  applies  are  not 
specifically  enumerated  or  defined,  it  is  obvious  that  judgment 
must  in  every  case  be  called  into  play  in  order  to  determine 
whether  a  particular  act  is  embraced  within  the  statutory  classes 
and  whether,  if  the  act  is  within  such  classes,  its  nature  or  effect 
causes  it  to  be  a  restraint  of  trade  within  the  intendment  of  the 
act.  To  hold  to  the  contrary  would  require  the  conclusion  either 
that  every  contract,  act,  or  combination  of  any  kind  or  nature, 
whether  it  operated  a  restraint  on  trade  or  not,  was  within  the 
statute,  and  thus  the  statue  would  be  destructive  of  all  right 
to  contract  or  agree  or  combine  in  any  respect  whatever  as  to 
subjects  embraced  in  interstate  trade  or  commerce,  or  if  this 
conclusion  were  not  reached,  then  the  contention  would  require 
it  to  be  held  that  as  the  statute  did  not  define  the  things  to 


529 

which  it  related  and  excluded  resort  to  the  only  means  by  which 
the  acts  to  which  it  relates  could  be  ascertained — the  light  of 
reason — the  enforcement  of  the  statute  was  impossible  because 
of  its  uncertainty.  The  merely  generic  enumeration  which  the 
statute  makes  of  the  acts  to  which  it  refers  and  the  absence  of 
any  definition  of  restraint  of  trade  as  used  in  the  statute  leaves 
room  for  but  one  conclusion,  which  is  that  it  was  expressly 
designed  not  to  unduly  limit  the  application  of  the  act  by  precise 
definition,  but  while  clearly  fixing  a  standard — that  is,  by  defin- 
ing the  ulterior  boundaries  which  could  not  be  transgressed  with 
impunity — to  leave  it  to  be  determined  by  the  light  of  reason, 
guided  by  the  principles  of  law  and  the  duty  to  apply  and 
enforce  the  public  policy  embodied  in  the  statute  in  every  given 
case,  whether  any  particular  act  or  contract  was  within  the  con- 
templation of  the  statute. 

But,  it  is  said,  persuasive  as  these  views  may  be,  they  may 
not  be  here  applied,  because  the  previous  decisions  of  this  court 
have  given  to  the  statute  a  meaning  which  expressly  excludes 
the  construction  which  must  result  from  the  reasoning  stated. 
The  cases  are  United  States  vs.  Freight  Association  (166  IT.  S., 
290)  and  United  States  vs.  Joint  Traffic  Association  (171  U.  S., 
505).  Both  the  cases  involved  the  legality  of  combinations  or 
associations  of  railroads  engaged  in  interstate  commerce  for  the 
purpose  of  controlling  the  conduct  of  the  parties  to  the  asso- 
ciation or  combination  in  many  particulars.  The  association 
or  combination  was  assailed  in  each  case  as  being  in  violation 
of  the  statute.  It  was  held  that  they  were.  It  is  undoubted  that 
in  the  opinion  in  each  case  general  language  was  made  use  of 
which,  when  separated  from  its  context,  would  justify  the  con- 
clusion that  it  was  decided  that  reason  could  not  be  resorted  to 
for  the  purpose  of  determining  whether  the  acts  complained  of 
were  within  the  statute.  It  is,  however,  also  true  that  the  nature 
and  character  of  the  contract  or  agreement  in  each  case  was 
fully  referred,  to  and  suggestions  as  to  their  unreasonableness 
pointed  out  in  order  to  indicate  that  they  were  within  the  pro- 
hibitions of  the  statute.  As  the  cases  can  not  by  any  possible 
conception  be  treated  as  authoritative  without  the  certitude  that 
reason  was  resorte'd  to  for  the  purpose  of  deciding  them,  it 
follows  as  a  matter  of  course  that  it  must  have  been  held  by 
the  light  of  reason,  since  the  conclusion  could  not  have  been 
otherwise  reached,  that  the  assailed  contracts  or  agreements 
were  within  the  general  enumeration  of  the  statute,  and  that 
their  operation  and  effect  brought  about  the  restraint  of  trade 
which  the  statute  prohibited.  This  being  inevitable,  the  de- 
duction can,  in  reason,  only  be  this:  That  in  the  cases  relied 
upon,  it  having  been  found  that  the  acts  complained  of  were 
within  the  statute  and  operated  to  produce  the  injuries  which 
the  statute  forbade,  that  resort  to  reason  was  not  permissible 
in  order  to  allow  that  to  be  done  which  the  statute  prohibited. 
This  being  true,  the  rulings  in  the  cases  relied  upon,  when 


530 

rightly  appreciated,  were  therefore  this  and  nothing  more :  That 
as  considering  the  contracts  or  agreements,  their  necessary  effect 
and  the  character  of  the  parties  by  whom  they  were  made,  they 
were  clearly  restraints  of  trade  within  the  purview  of  the  statute, 
they  could  not  be  taken  out  of  that  category  by  indulging  in 
general  reasoning  as  to  the  expediency  or  non-expediency  of 
having  made  the  contracts  or  the  wisdom  or  want  of  wisdom 
of  the  statute  which  prohibited  their  being  made.  That  is  to 
say,  the  cases  but  decided  that  the  nature  and  character  of  the 
contracts,  creating  as  they  did  a  conclusive  presumption  which 
brought  them  within  the  statute,  such  result  was  not  to  be  dis- 
regarded by  the  substitution  of  a  judicial  appreciation  of  what 
the  law  ought  to  be  for  the  plain  judicial  duty  of  enforcing  the 
law  as  it  was  made. 

But  aside  from  reasoning  it  is  true  to  say  that  the  cases 
relied  upon  do  not,  when  rightly  construed,  sustain  the  doctrine 
contended  for  is  established  by  all  of  the  numerous  decisions  of 
this  court  which  have  applied  and  enforced  the  anti-trust  act, 
since  they  all  in  the  very  nature  of  things  rest  upon  the  premise 
that  reason  was  the  guide  by  which  the  provisions  of  the  act 
were  in  every  case  interpreted.  Indeed,  intermediate  the  deci- 
sion of  the  two  cases — that  is,  after  the  decision  in  the  freight 
association  case  and  before  the  decision  in  the  joint  traffic  case 
—the  case  of  Hopkins  vs.  United  States  (171  U.  S.,  578)  was 
decided,  the  opinion  being  delivered  by  Mr.  Justice  Peckham, 
who  wrote  both  the  opinions  in  the  freight  association  and  in 
the  joint  traffic  cases.  And,  referring  in  the  Hopkins  case  to 
the  broad  claim  made  as  to  the  rule  of  interpretation  announced 
in  the  freight  association  case,  it  was  said  (p.  592)  : 

"  To  treat  as  condemned  by  the  act  all  agreements  under 
which,  as  a  result,  the  cost  of  conducting  an  interstate  com- 
mercial business  may  be  increased  would  enlarge  the  application 
of  the  act  far  beyond  the  fair  meaning  of  the  language  used. 
There  must  be  some  direct  and  immediate  effect  upon  interstate 
commerce  in  order  to  come  within  the  act." 

And  in  the  joint  traffic  case  this  statement  was  expressly 
reiterated  and  approved  and  illustrated  by  example.  Like  limita- 
tion on  the  general  language  used  in  freight  association  and 
joint  traffic  cases  is  also  the  clear  result  of  Bement  vs.  National 
Harrow  Company  (186  United  States  70,  92),  and  especially 
of  Cincinnati  Packet  Company  vs.  Bay  (200  U.  S.,  179). 

If  the  criterion  by  which  it  is  to  be  determined  in  all  cases 
whether  every  contract,  combination,  etc.,  is  a  restraint  of  trade 
within  the  intendment  of  the  law  is  the  direct  or  indirect  effect 
of  the  acts  involved,  then,  of  course,  the  rule  of  reason  becomes 
the  guide,  and  the  construction  which  we  have  given  the  statute, 
instead  of  being  refuted  by  the  cases  relied  upon,  is  by  those 
cases  demonstrated  to  be  correct.  This  is  true,  because  as  the 
construction  which  we  have  deduced  from  the  history  of  the  act 
and  the  analysis  of  its  text  is  simply  that  in  every  case  where 


531 

it  is  claimed  that  an  act  or  acts  are  in  violation  of  the  statute 
the  rule  of  reason,  in  the  light  of  the  principles  of  law  and 
the  public  policy  which  the  act  embodies,  must  be  applied.  From 
this  it  follows,  since  that  rule  and  the  result  of  the  test  as  to 
direct  or  indirect,  in  their  ultimate  aspect,  come  to  one  and  the 
same  thing,  that  the  difference  between  the  two  is  therefore 
only  that  which  obtains  between  things  which  do  not  differ 
at  all. 

If  it  be  true  that  there  is  this  identity  of  result  between 
the  rule  intended  to  be  applied  in  the  freight  association  case 
—that  is,  the  rule  of  direct  and  indirect,  and  the  rule  of  reason 
which,  under  the  statute  as  we  construe  it,  should  be  here  ap- 
plied— it  ma}'  be  asked  how  was  it  that  in  the  opinion  in  the 
freight  association  case  much  consideration  was  given  to  the 
subject  of  whether  the  agreement  or  combination  which  was 
involved  in  that  case  could  be  taken  out  of  the  prohibitions  of 
the  statute  upon  the  theory  of  its  reasonableness?  The  ques- 
tion is  pertinent  and  must  be  fully  and  frankly  met,  for  if  it 
be  now  deemed  that  the  freight*  association  case  was  mistakenly 
decided  or  too  broadly  stated,  the  doctrine  which  it  announced 
should  be  either  expressly  overruled  or  limited. 

The  confusion  which  gives  rise  to  the  question  results  from 
failing  to  distinguish  between  the  want  of  power  to  take  a 
case  which  by  its  terms  or  the  circumstances  which  surrounded 
it,  considering  among  such  circumstances  the  character  of  the 
parties,  is  plainly  within  the  statute,  out  of  the  operation  of 
the  statute  by  resort  to  reason  in  effect  to  establish  that  the 
contract  ought  not  to  be  treated  as  within  the  statute  and  the 
duty  in  every  case  where  it  becomes  necessary  from  the  nature 
and  character  of  the  parties  to  decide  whether  it  was  within  the 
statute  to  pass  upon  that  question  by  the  light  of  reason.  This 
distinction,  we  think,  serves  to  point  out  what  in  its  ultimate 
conception  was  the  thought  underlying  the  reference  to  the  rule 
of  reason  made  in  the  freight  association  case,  especially  when 
such  reference  is  interpreted  by  the  context  of  the  opinion  and 
in  the  light  of  the  subsequent  opinion  in  the  Hopkins  case  and 
in  Cincinnati  Packet  Company  vs.  Bay. 

And  in  order,  not  in  the  slightest  degree  to  be  wanting  in 
frankness,  we  say  that  in  so  far,  however,  as  by  separating  the 
general  language  used  in  the  opinions  in  the  freight  association 
and  joint  traffic  cases  from  the  context  and  the  subject  and 
parties  with  which  the  cases  were  concerned,  it  may  be  conceived 
that  the  language  referred  to  conflicts  with  the  construction 
which  we  give  the  statute,  they  are  necessarily  now  limited  and 
qualified.  We  see  no  possible  escape  from  this  conclusion  if 
we  are  to  adhere  to  the  many  cases  decided  in  this  court  in 
which  the  anti-trust  law  has  been  applied  and  enforced  and  if 
the  duty  to  apply  and  enforce  that  law  in  the  future  is  to  con- 
tinue to  exist.  The  first  is  true,  because  the  construction  which 
we  now  give  the  statute  does  not  in  the  slightest  degree  conflict 


532 

with  a  single  previous  case  decided  concerning  the  anti-trust 
law  aside  from  the  contention  as  to  the  freight  association  and 
joint  traffic  cases,  and  because  every  one  of  those  cases  applied 
the  rule  of  reason  for  the  purpose  of  determining  whether  the 
subject  before  the  court  was  within  the  statute.  The  second  is 
also  true,  since,  as  we  have  already  pointed  out,  unaided  by  the 
light  of  reason  it  is  impossible  to  understand  how  the  statute 
may  in  the  future  be  enforced  and  the  public  policy  which  it 
establishes  be  made  efficacious. 

So  far  as  the  objections  of  the  defendants  in  error  are  con- 
cerned, they  are  all  embraced  under  two  headings: 

(a)  That  the  act,  even  if  the  averments  of  the  bill  be  true, 
cannot  be  constitutionally  applied,  because  to  do  so  would  ex- 
tend the  power  of  Congress  to  subject  dehors  the  reach  of  its 
authority  to  regulate  commerce,  by  enabling  that  body  to  deal 
with  mere  questions  of  production  of  commodities  within  the 
States.  But  all  the  structure  upon  which  this  argument  proceeds 
is  based  ivoon  the  decision  in  United  States  vs.  E.  C.  Knight 
Company  (156  U.  S.,  1).  The 'view,  however,  which  the  argu- 
ment takes  of  that  case  and  the  arguments  based  upon  that  view 
have  been  so  repeatedly  pressed  upon  this  court  in  connection 
with  the  interpretation  and  enforcement  of  the  anti-trust  act, 
and  have  been  so  necessarily  and  expressly  decided  to  be  un- 
sound as  to  cause  the  contentions  to  be  plainly  foreclosed  and 
to  require  no  express  notice  (United  States  vs.  Northern  Securi- 
ties Company,  193  U.  S.,  334;  Loewe  vs.  Lawler,  208  TJ.  S., 
274;  United  States  vs.  Swift  &  Co.,  196  TJ.  S.,  375;  Montague 
vs.  Lowry,  193  U.  S.,  38;  Shawnee  Compress  Co.  vs.  Anderson, 
209  U.  S.,  423). 

(6)  Many  arguments  are  pressed  in  various  forms  of  state- 
ment which  in  substance  amount  to  contending  that  the  statute 
cannot  be  applied  under  the  facts  of  this  case  without  impairing 
rights  of  property  and  destroying  the  freedom  of  contract  or 
trade,  which  is  essentially  necessary  to  the  well-being  of  society 
and  which  it  is  insisted  is  protected  by  the  constitutional  guar- 
anty of  due  process  of  law.  But  the  ultimate  foundation  of  all 
these  arguments  is  the  assumption  that  reason  may  not  be 
resorted  to  in  interpreting  and  applying  the  statute,  and  there- 
fore that  the  statute  unreasonably  restricts  the  right  to  contract 
and  unreasonably  operates  upon  the  right  to  acquire  and  hold 
property.  As  the  premise  is  demonstrated  to  be  unsound  by  the 
construction  we  have  given  the  statute,  of  course  the  propositions 
which  rest  upon  that  premise  need  not  be  further  noticed. 

So  far  as  the  arguments  proceed  upon  the  conception  that 
in  view  of  the  generality  of  the  statute  it  is  not  susceptible  of 
being  enforced  by  the  courts  because  it  cannot  be  carried  out 
without  a  judicial  exertion  of  legislative  power,  they  are  clearly 
unsound.  The  statute  certainly  generically  enumerates  the 
character  of  acts  which  it  prohibits  and  the  wrong  which  it  was 
intended  to  prevent.  The  propositions  therefore  but  insist  that 


533 

consistently  with  the  fundamental  principles  of  due  process  of 
law  never  can  be  left  to  the  judiciary  to  decide  whether  in  a 
given  case  particular  acts  come  within  a  generic  statutory  pro- 
vision. But  to  reduce  the  propositions,  however,  to  this  their 
final  meaning  makes  it  clear  that  in  substance  they  deny  the 
existence  of  essential  legislative  authority  and  challenge  the 
right  of  the  judiciary  to  perform  duties  which  that  department 
of  the  government  has  exerted  from  the  beginning.  This  is 
so  clear  as  to  require  no  elaboration.  Yet,  let  us  demonstrate 
that  which  needs  no  demonstration  by  a  few  obvious  examples. 
Take,  for  instance,  the  familiar  cases  where  the  judiciary  is 
called  upon  to  determine  whether  a  particular  act  or  acts  are 
within  a  given  prohibition,  depending  upon  wrongful  intent. 
Take  questions  of  fraud.  Consider  the  power  which  must  be 
exercised  in  every  case  where  the  courts  are  called  upon  to  deter- 
mine whether  particular  acts  are  invalid  which  are,  abstractly 
speaking,  in  and  of  themselves  valid,  but  which  are  asserted 
to  be  invalid  because  of  their  direct  effect  upon  interstate  com- 
merce. 

AVe  come,  then,  to  the  third  proposition  requiring  considera- 
tion, viz.: 

Third — The  facts  and  the  application  of  the  statute  to  them. 

Beyond  dispute  the  proofs  establish  substantially,  as  alleged 
in  the  bill,  the  following  facts : 

(1)  The  creation  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  Ohio. 

(2)  The  organization  of  the  Standard  Oil  Trust  of  188.2, 
and  also  a  previous  one  of  1879,  not  referred  to  in  the  bill,  and 
the  proceedings  in  the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  culminating  in 
a  decree  based  upon  the  finding  that  the  company  was  unlaw- 
fully a  party  to  that  trust ;  the  transfer  by  the  trustees  of  stocks 
in  certain  of  the  companies;  the  contempt  proceedings;  and, 
finally,  the  increase  of  the  capital  of  the  Standard  Oil  Company 
of  New  Jersey  and  the  acquisition  by  that  company  of  the  shares 
of  the  stock  of  the  other  corporations  in  exchange  fbr  its  cer- 
tificates. 

The  vast  amount  of  property  and  the  possibilities  of  far- 
reaching  control  which  resulted  from  the  facts  last  stated  are 
shown  by  the  statement  which  we  have  previously  annexed  con- 
cerning the  parties  to  the  trust  agreement  of  1882,  and  the 
corporations  whose  stock  was  held  by  the  trustees  under  the  trust 
and  which  came  therefore  to  be  held  by  the  New  Jersey  corpo- 
ration. But  these  statements  do  not  with  accuracy  convey 
an  appreciation  of  the  situation  as  it  existed  at  the  time  of  the 
entry  of  the  decree  below,  since  during  the  more  than  ten  years 
which  elapsed  between  the  acquiring  by  the  New  Jersey  corpo- 
ration of  the  stock  and  other  property  which  was  formerly  held 
by  the  trustees  under  the  trust  agreement,  the  situation,  of 
course,  had  somewhat  changed,  a  change  which,  when  analyzed 
in  the  light  of  the  proof,  we  think,  establishes  that  the  result 


534 


of  enlarging  the  capital  stock  of  the  ISTew  Jersey  company  and 
giving  it  the  vast  power  to  which  we  have  referred  produced 
its  normal  consequence ;  that  is,  it  gave  to  the  corporation,  despite 
enormous  dividends  and  despite  the  dropping  out  of  certain 
corporations  enumerated  in  the  decree  of  the  court  below,  an 
enlarged  and  more  perfect  sway  and  control  over  the  trade  and 
commerce  in  petroleum  and  its  products.  The  ultimate  situa- 
tion referred  to  will  be  made  manifest  by  an  examination  of 
sections  2  and  4  of  the  decree  below,  which  are  excerpted  in  the 
margin.* 


*Sec.  2.  That  the  defendants  John  D.  Rockefeller,  William  Rockefeller, 
Henry  H.  Rogers,  Henry  M'.  Flager,  John  D.  Archbold,  Oliver  H.  Payne,  and 
Charles  M.  Pratt,  hereafter  called  the  seven  individual  defendants,  united  with 
the  Standard  Oil  Company  and  other  defendants  to  form  and  effectuate  this 
combination,  and  since  its  formation  have  been  and  still  are  engaged  in 
carrying  it  into  effect  and  continuing  it ;  that  the  defendants  Anglo-American 
Oil  Co.  (Ltd.),  Atlantic  Refining  Co.,  Buckeye  Pipe  Line  Co.,  Borne-Scrymser 
Co.,  Chesebrough  Manufacturing  Co.  (Consolidated),  Cumberland  Pipe  Line  Co., 
Colonial  Oil  Co.,  Continental  Oil  Co.,  Crescent  Pipe  Line  Co.,  Henry  C.  Folger, 
Jr.,  and  Calvin  N.  Payne  (a  copartnership  doing  business  under  the  firm 
name  and  style  of  Corsicana  Refining  Co.),  Eureka  Pipe  Line  Co.,  Galena 
Signal  Oil  Co.,  Indiana  Pipe  Line  Co.,  Manhattan  Oil  Co.,  National  Transit 
Co.,  New  York  Transit  Co.,  Northern  Pipe  Line  Co.,  Ohio  Oil  Co.,  Prairie  Oil  & 
Gas  Co.,  Security  Oil  Co.,  Solar  Refining  Co.,  Southern  Pipe  Line  Co.,  South 
Penn  Oil  Co.,  Southwest  Pennsylvania  Pipe  Lines  Co.,  Standard  Oil  Co.  of 
California,  Standard  Oil  Co.  of  Indiana,  Standard  Oil  Co.  of  Iowa,  Standard 
Oil  Co.  of  Kansas,  Standard  Oil  Co.  of  Kentucky,  Standard  Oil  Co.  of 
Nebraska,  Standard  Oil  Co.  of  New  York,  Standard  Oil  Co.  of  Ohio,  Swan  & 
1'  inch  Co.,  Union  Tank  Line  Co.,  Vacuum  Oil  Co.,  Washington  Oil  Co.,  Waters- 
Pierce  Oil  Co.,  have  entered  into  and  become  parties  to  this  combination  and 
are  either  actively  operating  or  aiding  in  the  operation  of  it;  that  by  means 
of  this  combination  the  defendants  named  in  this  section  have  combined  and 
conspired  to  monopolize,  have  monopolized  and  are  continuing  to  monopolize 
a  substantial  part  of  the  commerce  among  the  States,  in  the  Territories,  and 
with  foreign  nations,  in  violation  of  section  2  of  the  anti-trust  act. 


Sec.  4.  That,  in  the  formation  and  execution  of  the  combination  or  con- 
spiracy the  Standard  Co.  has  issued  its  stock  to  the  amount  of  more  than 
$90,000,000  in  exchange  for  the  stocks  of  other  corporations  which  it  holds, 
and  it  now  owns  and  controls  all  of  the  capital  stock  of  many  corporations,  a 
majority  of  the  stock  or  controlling  interests  in  some  corporations,  and  stock 
in  other  corporations  as  follows: 


Names  of  Companies. 

Total 
Capital 
Stock. 

Owned  by 
Standard 
Oil  Co. 

Anglo-American  Oil   Co     (Ltd  ) 

£1,000,000 

£999,740 

\tlantic    Refining    Co                   

$5,000,000 

$5,000,000 

Borne-Scrymser     Co  

2JO.OOO 

199,700 

Buckeye  Pipe  Line   Co 

10,000,000 

9,999,700 

Chesebrough  Manufacturing  Co     Consolidated 

500,000 

277,700 

Colonial    Oil    Co            .    .      •           

250,000 

249,300 

Continental    Oil    Co      

300,000 

300,000 

3,000,000 

3,000,000 

.Eureka  Pipe  Line  Co                                

5,000,000 

4,999,400 

Galena-Signal    Oil    Co          .           

10,003,000 

7,079,500 

Indiana   Pipe   Line   Co      

1,000,000 

999,700 

450,000 

450,0  DO 

Mahoning    Gas    Fuel    Co  

150,000 

149,900 

Mountain   State   Gas   Co                      

500,000 

530,000 

National   Transit    Co  

25,455,200 

25,451,650 

New  York  Transit  Co  

5,000,000 

5,000,000 

Northern   Pipe   Line    Co        .         

4,000,000 

4,003,000 

Northwestern  Ohio   Natural   Gas   Co  •  
Ohio   Oil   Co 

2,775,250 
10,000,000 

1,649,450 
9,999,850 

People's   Natural   Gas   Co.  .                         

1,000,000 

1,000,000 

535 

Giving  to  the  facts  just  stated  the  weight  which  it  was 
deemed  they  were  entitled  to,  in  the  light  afforded  by  the  proof 
of  other  cognate  facts  and  circumstances,  the  court  below  held 
that  the  acts  and  dealings  established  by  the  proof  operated  to 
destroy  the  "potentiality  of  competition"  which  otherwise 
would  have  existed  to  such  an  extent  as  to  cause  the  transfers 
of  stock  which  were  made  to  the  New  Jersey  corporation  and 


Names   of   Companies. 

Total 
Capital 
Stock. 

Owned  by 
Standard 
Oil  Co. 

Pittsburg    Natural    Gas    Co  

$310  000 

$310  000 

Solar    Refining    Co  

500  000 

499  400 

Southern  Pipe  Line  Co  

10  000*'300 

10  000  000 

South   Penn   Oil   Co 

2  500  000 

2  500  000 

Southwest   Pennsylvania   Pipe   Lines 

3  500  030 

3  500  000 

Standard  Oil  Co.  of  California  

17  000  000 

16  999  500 

Standard  Oil  Co    of  Indiana 

1  000  000 

999  'JOO 

Standard  Oil  Co.  of  Iowa  . 

1  000  000 

1  000  003 

Standard  Oil  Co.   of  Kansas  

1,000  000 

'999*330 

Standard  Oil  Co.  of  Kentucky  
Standard  Oil  Co.   of  Nebraska           .  . 

1,000,000 
600  030 

997,200 
599  500 

Standard  Oil  Co.  of  New  York  

15,000  000 

15  000  000 

Standard  Oil  Co    of  Ohio 

3  500  300 

3  499  400 

Swan  &   Finch   Co  

100  000 

100  000 

Union    Tank    Line    Co  

3,500,000 

3,499,430 

VTacuum    Oil    Co  

2  500  000 

2  500  000 

Washington    Oil    Co  

100,300 

71,480 

Waters-Pierce    Oil    Co  

400,000 

274,700 

That  the  defendant  National  Transit  Co.,  which  is  owned  and  controlled  by 
the  Standard  Oil  Co.  as  aforesaid,  owns  and  controls  the  amounts  of  the 
capital  stocks  of  the  following-named  corporations  and  limited  partnerships 
state'd  opposite  each,  respectively,  as  follows : 


Names  of   Companies. 


Total 
Capital 
Stock. 


Owned  by 

National 

Transit  Co. 


Connecting   Gas    Co 

Cumberland   Pipe   Line    Co. 

East  Ohio  Gas   Co 

Franklin   Pipe    Co.    (Ltd.). 
Prairie  Oil  &  Gas  Co 


$825,000 

1,003,000 

6,000,000 

50,000 

10,'300,000 


$412,000 

998,500 

5,999,500 

19,500 

9,999,500 


That  the  Standard  Co.  has  also  acquired  the  control,  by  the  ownership  of 
its  stock  or  otherwise,  of  the  Security  Oil  Co.,  a  corporation  created  under 
the  laws  of  Texas,  which  owns  a  refinery  at  Beaumont,  in  that  State,  and  the 
Manhattan  Oil  Co.,  a  corporation  which  owns  a  pipe  line  situated  in  the  States 
of  Indiana  and  Ohio;  that  the  Standard  Co.  and  the  corporations  and  partner- 
ships named  in  section  2  are  engaged  in  the  various  branches  of  the  business 
of  producing,  purchasing  and  transporting  petroleum  in  the  principal  oil- 
producing  districts  of  the  United-  States,  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  West 
Virginia,  Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Kansas,  Oklahoma,  Louis- 
iana, Texas,  Colorado,  and  California,  in  shipping  and  transporting  the  oil 
through  pipe  lines  owned  or  controlled  by  these  companies  from  the  various  oil- 
producing  districts  into  and  through  other  States,  in  refining  the  petroleum  and 
manufacturing  it  into  various  products,  in  shipping  the  petroleum  and  the 
products  thereof  into  the  States  and  Territories  of  the  United  States,  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  and  to  foreign  nations,  in  shipping  the  petroleum  and  its 
products  in  tank  cars  owned  or  controlled  by  the  subsidiary  companies  into 
various  States  and  Territories  of  the  United  States  and  into  the  District  of 
Columbia,  and  in  selling  the  petroleum  and  its  products  in  various  places  in  t«« 
States  and  Territories  of  the  United  States,  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and 
in  foreign  countries ;  that  the  Standard  Co.  controls  the  subsidiary  companies 
and  directs  the  management  thereof  so  that  none  of  the  subsidiary  cornpaniei 
competes  with  any  other  of  those  companies  or  with  the  Standard  Co.,  but 
their  trade  is  all  managed  as  that  of  a  single  person. 


536 

the  control  which  resulted  over  the  many  and  various  subsidiary 
corporations  to  be  a  combination  or  conspiracy  in  restraint  of 
trade  in  violation  of  the  first  section  of  the  act,  but  also  to  be 
an  attempt  to  monopolize  and  a  monopolization  bringing  about 
a  perennial  violation  of  the  second  section. 

We  see  no  cause  to  doubt  the  correctness  of  these  conclu- 
sions, considering  the  subject  from  every  aspect — that  is,  both 
in  view  of  the  facts  established  by  the  record  and  the  necessary 
operation  and  effect  of  the  law  as  we  have  construed  it  upon 
the  inferences  deducible  from  the  facts — for  the  following 
reasons : 

(a)  Because  the  unification  of  power  and  control  over  petro- 
leum and  its  products  which  was  the  inevitable  result  of  the 
combining  in  the  New  Jersey  corporation  by  the  increase  of  its 
stock  and  the  transfer  to  it  of  the  stocks  of  so  many  other  cor- 
porations, aggregating  so  vast  a  capital,  gives  rise,  in  and  of 
itself,  in  the  absence  of  countervailing  circumstances,  to  say  the 
least,  to  the  prima  facie  presumption  of  intent  and  purpose  to 
maintain  the  dominancy  over  the  oil  industry,  not  as  a  result 
of  normal  methods  of  industrial  development,  but  by  new  means 
of  combination  which  were  resorted  to  in  order  that  greater 
power  might  be  added  than  would  otherwise  have  arisen  had 
normal  methods  been  followed,  the  whole  with  the  purpose  of 
excluding  others  from  the  trade  and  thus  centralizing  in  the 
combination  a  perpetual  control  of  the  movements  of  petroleum 
and  its  products  in  the  channels  of  interstate  commerce. 

(&)  Because  the  prima  facie  presumption  of  intent  tot  re- 
strain trade,  to  monopolize  and  to  bring  about  monopolization 
resulting  from  the  act  of  expanding  the  stock  of  the  New  Jersey 
corporation  and  vesting  it  with  such  vast  control  of  the  oil 
industry,  is  made  conclusive  by  considering  (1)  the  conduct 
of  the  persons  or  corporations  who  were  mainly  instrumental 
in  bringing  about  the  extension  of  power  in  the  New  J'ersey 
corporation  before  the  consummation  of  that  result,  and  prior 
to  the  formation  of  the  trust  agreements  of  1879  and  1882 ; 
(2)  by  considering  the  proof  as  to  what  was  done  under  those 
agreements  and  the  acts  which  immediately  preceded  the  vest- 
ing of  power  in  the  New  Jersey  corporation,  as  well  as  by  weigh- 
ing the  modes  in  which  the  power  vested  in  that  corporation  has 
been  exerted  and  the  results  which  have  arisen  from  it. 

Recurring  to  the  acts  done  b}^  the  individuals  or  corporations 
who  were  mainly  instrumental  in  bringing  about  the  expansion 
of  the  New  Jersey  corporation  during  the  period  prior  to  the 
formation  of  the  trust  agreements  of  1879  and  1882,  including 
those  agreements,  not  for  the  purpose  of  weighing  the  substan- 
tial merit  of  the  numerous  charges  of  wrong-doing  made  during 
such  period,  but  solely  as  an  aid  for  discovering  intent  and  pur- 
pose, we  think  no  disinterested  mind  can  survey  the  period  in 
question  without  being  irresistibly  driven  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  very  genius  for  commercial  development  and  organization 


537 

which,  it  would  seem,  was  manifested  from  the  beginning  soon 
begot  an  intent  and  purpose  to  exclude  others  which  was  fre- 
quently manifested  by  acts  and  dealings  wholly  inconsistent  with 
the  theory  that  they  were  made  with  the  single  conception  of 
advancing  the  development  of  business  power  by  usual  methods, 
but  which,  on  the  contrary,  necessarily  involved  the  intent  to 
drive  others  from  the  field  and  to  exclude  them  from  their  right 
to  trade,  and  thus  accomplish  the  mastery  which  was  the  end  in 
view.  And,  considering  the  period  from  the  date  of  the  trust 
agreements  of  1879  and  1882,  up  to  the  time  of  the  expansion 
of  the  New  Jersey  corporation,  the  gradual  extension  of  the 
power  over  the  commerce  in  oil  which  ensued,  the  decision  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Ohio,  the  tardiness  or  reluctance  in  con- 
forming to  the  commands  of  that  decision,  the  method  first 
adopted  and  that  which  finally  culminated  in  the  plan  of  the 
New  Jersey  corporation,  all  additionally  serve  to  make  manifest 
the  continued  existence  of  the  intent  which  we  have  previously 
indicated  and  which,  among  other  things,  impelled  the  expan- 
sion of  the  New  Jersey  corporation.  The  exercise  of  the  power 
which  resulted  from  that  organization  fortifies  the  foregoing 
conclusions,  since  the  development  which  came,  the  acquisition 
here  and  there  which  ensued  .of  every  efficient  means  by  which 
competition  could  have  been  asserted,  the  slow  but  resistless 
methods  which  followed  by  which  means  of  transportation  were 
absorbed  and  brought  under  control,  the  system  of  marketing 
which  was  adopted,  by  which  the  country  was  divided  into  dis- 
tricts and  the  trade  in  each  district  in  oil  was  turned  over  to  a 
designated  corporation  within  the  combination  and  all  others 
were  excluded,  all  lead  the  mind  up  to  a  conviction  of  a  purpose 
and  intent  which  we  think  is  so  certain  as  practically  to  cause 
the  subject  not  to  be  within  the  domain  of  reasonable  conten- 
tion. 

The' inference  that  no  attempt  to  monopolize  could  have  been 
intended,  and  that  no  monopolization  resulted  from  the  acts 
complained  of,  since  it  is  established  that  a  very  small  percent- 
age of  the  crude  oil  produced  was  controlled  by  the  combination, 
is  unwarranted.  As  substantial  power  over  the  crude  product  was 
the  inevitable  result  of  the  absolute  control  which  existed  over 
the  refined  product,  the  monopolization  of  the  one  carried  with 
it  the  power  to  control  the  other,  and  if  the  inference  which  this 
situation  suggests  were  developed,  which  we  deem  it  unneces- 
sary to  do,  they  might  well  serve  to  add  additional  cogency  to 
the  presumption  of  intent  to  monopolize  which  we  have  found 
arises  from  the  unquestioned  proof  on  other  subjects. 

We  are  thus  brought  to  the  last  subject  which  we  are  called 
upon  to  consider,  viz. : 

Fourth — The  remedy  to  be  administered. 

It  may  be  conceded  that  ordinarily  where  it  was  found  that 
acts  had  been  done  in  violation  of  the  statute  adequate  measure 
of  relief  would  result  from  restraining  the  doing  of  such  acts 


538 

in  the  future.  (Swift  vs.  United  States,  96  U.  S.,  375.)  But 
in  a  case  like  this,  where  the  condition  which  has  been  brought 
about  in  violation  of  the  statute,  in  and  of  itself,  is  not  only  a 
continued  attempt  to  monopolize,  but  also  a  monopolization,  the 
duty  to  enforce  the  statute  requires  the  application  of  broader 
and  more  controlling  remedies.  As  penalties  which  are  not 
authorized  by  law  may  not  be  inflicted  by  judicial  authority,  it 
follows  that  to  meet  the  situation  with  which  we  are  confronted 
the  application  of  remedies  twofold  in  character  becomes  essen- 
tial: (1)  To  forbid  the  doing  in  the  future  of  acts  like  those 
which  we  have  found  to  have  been  done  in  the  past  which  would 
he  violative  of  the  statute;  (2)  the  exertion  of  such  measure 
of  relief  as  will  effectually  dissolve  the  combination  found  to 
exist  in  violation  of  the  statute,  and  thus  neutralize  the  exten- 
sion and  continually  operating  force  which  the  possession  of 
the  power  unlawfully  obtained  has  brought  and  will  continue 
to  bring  about. 

In  applying  remedies  for  this  purpose,  however,  the  fact  must 
not  be  overlooked  that  injury  to  the  public  by  the  prevention 
of  an  undue  restraint  on  or  the  monopolization  of  trade  or 
commerce  is  the  foundation  upon  which  the  prohibitions  of  the 
statute  rest,  and,  moreover,  that  one  of  the  fundamental  pur- 
poses of  the  statute  is  to  protect,  not  to  destroy,  rights  of 
property. 

Let  us  then,  as  a  means  of  accurately  determining  what 
relief  we  are  to  afford,  first  come  to  consider  what  relief  was 
afforded  by  the  court  below,  in  order  to  fix  how  far  it  is  neces- 
sary to  take  from  or  add  to  that  relief,  to  the  end  that  the 
prohibitions  of  the  statute  may  have  complete  and  operative 
force. 

The  court  below,  by  virtue  of  sections  1,  2  and  4  of  its 
decree,  which  we  have  in  part  previously  excerpted  in  the  mar- 
gin, adjudged  that  the  New  Jersey  corporation  in  so  far  as  it 
held  the  stock  of  the  various  corporations,  recited  in  sections 
2  and  4  of  the  decree,  or  controlled  the  same,  was  a  combina- 
tion in  violation  of  the  first  section  of  the  act,  and  an  attempt 
to  monopolize  or  a  monopolization  contrary  to  the  second  sec- 
tion of  the  act.  It  commanded  the  dissolution  of  the  combina- 
tion and  therefore,  in  effect,  directed  the  transfer  by  the  New 
Jersey  corporation  back  to  the  stockholders  of  the  various  sub- 
sidiary corporations  entitled  to  the  same  of  the  stock  which  had 
been  turned  over  to  the  New  Jersey  company  in  exchange  for 
its  stock.  To  make  this  command  effective,  section  5  of  the 
decree  forbade  the  New  Jersey  corporation  from  in  any  form 
or  manner  exercising  any  ownership  or  exerting  any  power 
directly  or  indirectly  in  virtue  of  its  apparent  title  to  the  stocks 
of  the  subsidiary  corporations,  and  prohibited  those  subsidiary 
corporations  from  paying  any  dividends  to  the  New  Jersey  cor- 
poration or  doing  any  act  which  would  recognize  further  power 
in  that  company,  except  to  the  extent  that  it  was  necessary  to 


539 

enable  that  company  to  transfer  the  stock.  So  far  as  the  owners 
of  the  stock  of  the  subsidiary  corporations  and  the  corporations 
themselves  were  concerned  after  the  stock  had  been  transferred, 
section  6  of  the  decree  enjoined  them  from  in  any  way  conspir- 
ing or  combining  to  violate  the  act  or  to  monopolize  or  attempt 
to  monopolize  in  virtue  of  their  ownership  of  the  stock  trans- 
ferred to  them,  and  prohibited  all  agreements  between  the  sub- 
sidiary corporations  or  other  stockholders  in  the  future  tending 
to  produce  or  bring  about  further  violations  of  the  act. 

By  section  7,  pending  the  accomplishment  of  the  dissolution 
of  the  combination  by  the  transfer  of  stock  and  until  it  was 
consummated,  the  defendants  named  in  section  1,  constituting 
all  the  corporations  to  which  we  have  referred,  were  enjoined 
from  engaging  in  or  carrying  on  interstate  commerce.  And 
by  section  9,  among  other  things,  a  delay  of  30  days  was  granted 
for  the  carrying  into  effect  of  the  direction  of  the  decree. 

So  far  as  the  decree  held,  that  the  ownership  of  the  stock 
of  the  New  Jersey  corporation  constituted  a  combination  in 
violation  of  the  first  section  and  an  attempt  to  create  a  mo- 
nopoly or  to  monopolize  under  the  second  section  and  com- 
manded the  dissolution  of  the  combination,  the  decree  was  clearly 
appropriate.  And  this  also  is  true  of  section  5  of  the  decree, 
which  restricted  both  the  New  Jersey  corporation  and  the  sub- 
sidiary corporations  from  doing  anything  which  would  recog- 
nize or  give  effect  to  further  ownership  in  the  New  Jersey  cor- 
poration of  the  stocks  which  were  ordered  to  be  retransf erred. 

But  the  contention  is  that,  in  so  far  as  the  relief  by  way  of 
injunction  which  was  awarded  by  section  6  against  the  stock- 
holders of  the  subsidiary  corporations  or  the  subsidiary  corpora- 
tions themselves  after  the  transfer  of  stock  by  the  New  Jersey 
corporation  was  completed  in  conformity  to  the  decree,  that  the 
relief  awarded  was  too  broad :  (a)  Because  it  was  not  sufficiently 
specific  and  tended  to  cause  those  who  were  within  the  embrace 
of  the  order  to  cease  to  be  under  the  protection  of  the  law  of 
the  land  and  required  them  to  thereafter  conduct  their  business 
under  the  jeopardy  of  punishments  for  contempt  for  violating 
a  general  injunction.  (New  Haven  E.  E.  vs.  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission,  200  U.  S.,  404.)  Besides,  it  is  said  that 
the  restraint  imposed  by  section  6 — even  putting  out  of  view 
the  consideration  just  stated — was  moreover  calculated  to  do 
injury  to  the  public,  and  it  may  be  in  and  of  itself  to  produce 
the  very  restraint  on  the  due  course  of  trade  which  it  was 
intended  to  prevent.  We  say  this  since  it  does  not  necessarily 
follow  because  an  illegal  restraint  of  trade  or  an  attempt  to 
monopolize  or  a  monopolization  resulted  from  the  combination 
and  the  transfer  of  the  stocks  of  the  subsidiary  corporations  to 
the  New  Jersey  corporation  that  a  like  restraint  or  attempt  to 
monopolize  or  monopolization  would  necessarily  arise  from  agree- 
ments between  one  or  more  of  the  subsidiary  corporations  after 
the  transfer  of  the  stock  by  the  New  Jersey  corporation.  For 


940 

illustration,  take  the  pipe  lines.  By  the  effect  of  the  transfer 
of  the  stock  the  pipe  lines  would  come  under  the  control  of 
various  corporations,  instead  of  being  subjected  to  a  uniform 
control.  If  various  corporations  owning  the  lines  determined 
in  the  public  interests  to  so  combine  as  to  make  a  continuous 
line,  such  agreement  or  combination  would  not  be  repugnant  to 
the  act,  and  yet  it  might  be  restrained  by  the  decree. 

As  another  example,  take  the  Union  Tank  Line  Company, 
one  of  the  subsidiary  corporations,  the  owner  practically  of  all 
the  tank  cars  in  use  by  the  combination.  If  no  possibility 
existed  of  agreements  for  the  distribution  of  these  cars  among 
the  subsidiary  corporations,  the  most  serious  detriment  to  the 
public  interest  might  result.  Conceding  the  merit,  abstractly 
considered,  of  these  contentions,  they  are  irrelevant.  We  so 
think,  since  we  construe  the  sixth  paragraph  of  the  decree  not 
as  depriving  the  stockholders  or  the  corporations,  after  the  dis- 
solution of  the  combination,  of  the  power  to  make  normal  and 
lawful  contracts  or  agreements,  but  as  restraining  them  from, 
by  any  device  whatever,  re-creating,  directly  or  indirectly,  the 
illegal  combination  which  the  decree  dissolved.  In.  other  words, 
we  construe  the  sixth  paragraph  of  the  decree  not  as  depriving 
the  stockholders  or  corporations  of  the  right  to  live  under  the 
law  of  the  land,  but  as  compelling  obedience  to  that  law.  As, 
therefore,  the  sixth  paragraph  as  thus  construed  is  not  amenable 
to  the  criticism  directed  against  it  and  cannot  produce  the  harm- 
ful results  which  the  arguments  suggest,  it  was  obviously  right. 
We  think  that,  in  view  of  the  magnitude  of  the  interests  involved 
and  their  complexity,  the  delay  of  thirty  days  allowed  for  exe- 
cuting the  decree  was  too  short  and  should  be  extended  so  as  to 
embrace  a  period  of  at  least  six  months.  So  also,  in  view  of 
the  possible  serious  injury  to  result  to  the  public  from  an  abso- 
lute cessation  of  interstate  commerce  in  petroleum  and  its  prod- 
ucts by  such  vast  agencies  as  are  embraced  in  the  combination, 
a  result  which  might  arise  from  that  portion  of  the  decree  which 
enjoined  carrying  on  of  interstate  commerce  not  only  by  the 
New  Jersey  corporation  but  by  all  the  subsidiary  companies  until 
the  dissolution  of  the  combination  by  the  transfer  of  the  stocks 
in  accordance  with  the  decree  should  not  have  been  awarded. 

Our  conclusion  is  that  the  decree  below  was  right  and  should 
be  affirmed,  except  as  to  the  minor  matters  concerning  which 
we  have  indicated  the  decree  should  be  modified.  Our  order 
will  therefore  be  one  of  affirmance,  with  directions,  however, 
'to  modify  the  decree  in  accordance  with  this  opinion;  the  court 
below  to  retain  jurisdiction  to  the  extent  mve^ary  to  compel 
compliance  in  every  respect  with  its  decree. 

And  it  is  so  ordered. 


541 

DISSENTING  OPINION  OF  MR.  JUSTICE  HARLAN. 

Mr.  Jiistice  Harlan,  concurring  in  part  and  dissenting  in 
part: 

A  sense  of  duty  constrains  me  to  express  the  objections  which 
I  have  to  certain  declarations  in  the  opinion  just  delivered  on 
behalf  of  the  court. 

I  concur  in  holding  that  the  Standard  Oil  Company  of  New 
Jersey  and  its  subsidiary  companies  constitute  a  combination 
in  restraint  of  interstate  commerce,  and  that  they  have  attempted 
to  monopolize  and  have  monopolized  parts  of  such  commerce — 
all  in  violation  of  what  is  known  as  the  anti-trust  act  of  1890. 
(26  Stat,  209,  ch.  647.)  The  evidence  in  this  case  overwhelm- 
ingly sustained  that  view  and  led  the  circuit  court,  by  its  final 
decree,  to  order  the  dissolution  of  the  New  Jersey  corporation 
and  the  discontinuance  of  the  illegal  combination  between  that 
corporation  and  its  subsidiary  companies. 

In  my  judgment  the  decree  below  should  have  been  affirmed 
without  qualification.  But  the  court,  while  affirming  the  decree, 
directs  some  modification  in  respect  of  what  it  characterizes  as 
"  minor  matters."  It  is  to  be  apprehended  that  those  modifica- 
tions may  prove  to  be  mischievous.  In  saying  this  I  have  par- 
ticularly in  view  the  statement  in  the  opinion  that  "  it  does  not 
necessarily  follow  that  because  an  illegal  restraint  of  trade  or 
an  attempt  to  monopolize  or  a  monopolization  resulted  from 
the  combination  and  the  transfer  of  the  stocks  of  the  subsidiary 
corporations  to  the  New  Jersey  corporation  that  a  like  restraint 
of  trade  or  attempt  to  monopolize  or  monopolization  would  nec- 
essarily arise  from  agreements  between  one  or  more  of  the  sub- 
sidiary corporations  after  the  transfer  of  the  stock  by  the  New 
Jersey  corporation."  Taking  this  language  in  connection  with 
other  parts  of  the  opinion,  the  subsidiary  companies  are  thus, 
in  effect,  informed — unwisely,  I  think —  that,  although  the  New 
Jersey  corporation,  being  an  illegal  combination,  must  go  out 
of  existence,  they  may  join  in  an  agreement  to  restrain  com- 
merce among  the  States  if  such  restraint  be  not  "  undue." 

In  order  that  my  objections  to  certain  parts  of  the  court's 
opinion  may  distinctly  appear,  I  must  state  the  circumstances 
under  which  Congress  passed  the  anti-trust  act  and  trace  the 
course  of  judicial  decisions  as  to  its  meaning  and  scope.  This 
is  the  more  necessary  because  the  court,  by  its  decision,  when 
interpreted  by  the  language  of  its  opinion,  has  not  only  upset 
the  long-settled  interpretation  of  the  act,  but  has  usurped  the 
constitutional  functions  of  the  legislative  branch  of  the  gov- 
ernment. With  all  due  respect  for  the  opinions  of  others,  I 
feel  bound  to  say  that  what  the  court  has  said  may  well  cause 
some  alarm  for  the  integrity  of  our  institutions.  Let  us  see  how 
the  matter  stands. 

All  who  recall  the  condition  of  the  country  in  1890  will 
remember  that  there  was  everywhere  among  the  people  gen- 


542 

orally  a  deep  feeling  of  unrest.  The  nation  had  been  rid  of 
human  slavery — fortunately,  as  all  now  feel — but  the  conviction 
was  universal  that  the  country  was  in  real  danger  from  another 
kind  of  slavery  sought  to  be  fastened  on  the  American  pepple, 
namely,  the  slavery  that  would  result  from  aggregations  of 
capital  in  the  hands  of  a  few  individuals  and  corporations  con- 
trolling, for  their  own  profit  and  advantage  exclusively,  the 
entire  business  of  the  country,  including  the  production  and  sale 
of  the  necessaries  of  life.  Such  a  danger  was  thought  to  be 
then  imminent,  and  all  felt  that  it  must  be  met  firmly  and  by 
such  statutory  regulations  as  would  adequately  protect  the  people 
against  oppression  and  wrong.  Congress  therefore  took  up  the 
matter  and  gave  the  whole  subject  the  fullest  consideration. 
All  agreed  that  the  national  government  could  not,  by  legisla- 
tion, regulate  the  domestic  trade  carried  on  wholly  within  the 
several  States;  for  power  to  regulate  such  trade  remained  with, 
because  never  surrendered  by,  the  States.  But,  under  authority 
expressly  granted  to  it  by  the  Constitution,  Congress  could 
regulate  commerce  among  the- several  States  and  with  foreign 
States.  Its  authority  to  regulate  such  commerce  was  and  is 
paramount,  due  force  being  given  to  other  provisions  of  the 
fundamental  law  devised  by  the  fathers  for  the  safety  of  the 
government  and  for  the  protection  and  security  of  the  essen- 
tial rights  inhering  in  life,  liberty  and  property. 

Guided  by  these  considerations,  and  to  the  end  that  the 
people,  so  far  as  interstate  commerce  was  concerned,  might  not 
be  dominated  by  vast  combinations  and  monopolies,  having  power 
to  advance  their  own  selfish  ends  regardless  of  the  general  inter- 
ests and  welfare,  Congress  passed  the  anti-trust  act  of  1890 
in  these  words: 

"  SECTION"  1.  Every  contract,  combination  in  the  .form  of 
trust  or  otherwise,  or  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade  or  com- 
merce among  the  several  States  or  with  foreign  nations  is  hereby 
declared  to  be  illegal.  Every  person  who  shall  make  any  such 
contract  or  engage  in  any  such  combination  or  conspiracy  shall 
be  deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and,  on  conviction  thereof, 
shall  be  punished  by  fine  not  exceeding  $5,000  or  by  imprison- 
ment not  exceeding  one  year,  or  by  both  said  punishments,  in 
the  discretion  of  the  court. 

"  SEC.  2.  Every  person  who  shall  monopolize  or  attempt  to 
monopolize  or  combine  or  conspire  with  any  other  person  or 
persons  to  monopolize  any  part  of  the  trade  or  commerce  among 
the  several  States  or  with  foreign  nations  shall  be  deemed  guilty 
of  a  misdemeanor,  and,  on  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  punished 
by  fine  not  exceeding  $5,000  or  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding 
one  year,  or  by  both  said  punishments,  in  the  discretion  of  the 
court. 

"  SEC.  3.  Every  contract,  combination  in  form  of  trust  or 
otherwise  or  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  in  any 
Territory  of  the  United  States  or  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 


543 

or  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  between  any  such  Terri- 
tory and  another,  or  between  any  such  Territory  or  Territories 
and  any  State  or  States  or  the  District  of  Columbia  or  with 
foreign  nations,  or  between  the  District  of  Columbia  and  any 
State  or  States  or  foreign  nations  is  hereby  declared  illegal. 
Every  person  who  shall  make  any  such  contract  or  engage  in 
any  such  combination  or  conspiracy  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of 
a  misdemeanor,  and,  on  conviction  thereof,  shall  be  punished 
by  fine  not  exceeding  $5,000  or  by  imprisonment  not  exceeding 
one  year,  or  by  both  said  punishments,  in  the  discretion  of  the 
court."  (26  Stat.,  209,  ch.  647.) 

The  important  inquiry  in  the  present  case  is  as  to  the  mean- 
ing and  scope  of  that  act  in  its  application  to  interstate  com- 
merce. 

In  1896  this  court  had  occasion  to  determine  the  meaning 
and  scope  of  the  act  in  an  important  case  known  as  the  Trans- 
Missouri  Freight  case.  (166  U.  S.,  290.)  The  question  there 
was  as  to  the  validity  under  the  anti-trust  act  of  a  certain 
agreement  between  numerous  railroad  companies,  whereby  they 
formed  an  association  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  and  main- 
taining rates,  rules  and  regulations  in  respect  of  freight  traffic 
over  specified  routes.  Two  questions  were  involved:  First, 
whether  the  act  applied  to  railroad  carriers;  second,  whether 
the  agreement  which  was  the  basis  of  the  suit  which  the  United 
States  brought  to  have  the  agreement  annulled  was  illegal.  The 
court  held  that  railroad  carriers  were  embraced  by  the  act.  In 
determining  that  question  the  court,  among  other  things,  said: 

"  The  language  of  the  act  includes  every  contract,  combina- 
tion in  the  form  of  trust  or  otherwise,  or  conspiracy  in  restraint 
of  trade  or  commerce  among  the  several  States  or.  with  foreign 
nations.  So  far  as  the  very  terms  of  the  statute  go,  they  apply 
to  any  contract  of  the  nature  described.  A  contract,  therefore, 
that  is  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  is  by  the  strict  lan- 
guage of  the  act  prohibited,  even  though  such  contract  is  en- 
tered into  between  competing  common  carriers  by  railroad,  and 
only  for  the  purposes  of  thereby  aft'ecting  traffic  rates  for  the 
transportation  of  persons  and  property.  If  such  an  agreement 
restrains  trade  or  commerce,  it  is  prohibited  by  the  statute, 
unless  it  can  be  said  that  an  agreement,  no  matter  what  its 
terms,  relating  only  to  transportation  cannot  restrain  trade  or 
commerce.  We  see  no  escape  from  the  conclusion  that  if  an 
agreement  of  such  a  nature  does  restrain  it  the  agreement  is 
condemned  by  this  act.  *  *  *  Nor  is  it  for  the  substantia] 
interests  of  the  country  that  any  one  commodity  should  be  within 
the  sole  power  and  subject  to  the  sole  will  of  one  powerful  com- 
bination of  capital.  Congress  has,  so  far  as  its  jurisdiction 
extends,  prohibited  all  contracts  or  combinations  in  the  form 
of  trusts  entered  into  for  the  purpose  of  restraining  trade  and 
commerce.  *  *  *  While  the  statute  prohibits  all  combina- 
tions in  the  form  of  trusts  or  otherwise,  the  limitation  is  not 


544 

confined  to  that  form  alone.  All  combinations  which  are  in 
restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  are  prohibited,  whether  in  the 
form  of  trusts  or  in  any  other  form  whatever.  (U.  S.  vs. 
Freight  Association,  166  U.  S.,  290,  312,  324,  326.) 

The  court  then  proceeded  to  consider  the  second  of  the  above 
questions,  saying: 

"  The  next  question  to  be  discussed  is  as  to  what  is  the  true 
construction  of  the  statute,  assuming  that  it  applies  to  common 
carriers  by  railroad.  What  is  the  meaning  of  the  language  as 
used  in  the  statute,  that  '  every  contract,  combination  in  the 
form  of  trust  or  otherwise,  or  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade 
or  commerce  among  the  several  States  or  with  foreign  nations 
is  hereby  declared  to  be  illegal '?  Is  it  confined  to  a  contract 
or  combination  which  is  only  in  unreasonable  restraint  of  trade 
or  commerce,  or  does  it  include  what  the  language  of  the  act 
plainly  and  in  terms  covers,  all  contracts  of  that  nature?  It 
is  now  with  much  amplification  of  argument  urged  that  the 
statute  in  declaring  illegal  every  combination  in  the  form  of 
trust  or  otherwise  or  conspiracy  in  restraint  of  trade  or  com- 
merce does  not  mean  what  the  language  used  therein  plainly 
imports,  but  that  it  only  means  to  declare  illegal  any  such  con- 
tract which  is  in  unreasonable  restraint  of  trade,  while  leaving 
all  others  unaffected  by  the  provisions  of  the  act;  that  the  com- 
mon-law meaning  of  the  term  '  contract  in  restraint  of  trade ' 
includes  only  such  contracts  as  are  in  unreasonable  restraint 
of  trade,  and  when  that  term  is  used  in  the  Federal  statute 
it  is  not  intended  to  include  all  contracts  in  restraint  of  trade, 
but  only  those  which  are  in  unreasonable  restraint  thereof. 

*  *  by  the  simple  use  of  the  term  (  contract  in  restraint  of 
trade  9  all  contracts  of  that  nature,  whether  valid  or  otherwise, 
would  be  included,  and  not  alone  that  kind  of  contract  which 
was  invalid  and  unenforceable  as  being  in  unreasonable  re- 
straint of  trade.  When,  therefore,  the  body  of  an  act  pro- 
nounces as  illegal  every  contract  or  combination  in  restraint 
of  trade  or  commerce  among  the  several  States,  etc.,  the  plain 
and  ordinary  meaning  of  such  language  is  not  limited  to  that 
kind  of  contract  alone  which  is  in  unreasonable  restraint  of 
trade,  but  all  contracts  are  included  in  such  language,  and  no 
exception  or  limitation  can  be  added  without  placing  in  the  act 
that  which  has  been  omitted  by  Congress.  *  *  *  If  only 
that  kind  of  contract  which  is  in  unreasonable  restraint  of 
trade  be  within  the  meaning  of  the  statute,  and  declared  therein 
to  be  illegal,  it  is  at  once  apparent  that  the  subject  of  what  is 
a  reasonable  rate  is  attended  with  great  uncertainty.  *  *  * 
To  say,  therefore,  that  the  act  excludes  agreements  which  are 
not  in  unreasonable  restraint  of  trade,  and  which  tend  simply 
to  keep  up  reasonable  rates  for  transportation,  is  substantially 
to  leave  the  question  of  unreasonableness  to  the  companies  them- 
selves. *  *  *  But  assuming  that  agreements  of  this  nature 
are  not  void  at  common  law  and  that  the  various  cases  cited 


545 

by  the  learned  courts  below  show  it,  the  answer  to  the  state- 
ment of  their  validity  now  is  to  be  found  in  the  terms  of  the 
statute  under  consideration.  *  *  *  The  arguments  which 
have  been  addressed  to  us  against  the  inclusion  of  all  contracts 
in  restraint  of  trade,  as  provided  for  by  the  language  of  the 
act,  have  been  based  upon  the  alleged  presumption  that  Con- 
gress, notwithstanding  the  language  of  the  act,  could  not  have 
intended  to  embrace  all  contracts,  but  only  such  contracts  as 
were  in  unreasonable  restraint  of  trade.  Under  these  circum- 
stances we  are,  therefore,  asked  to  hold  that  the  act  of  Con- 
gress excepts  contracts  which  are  not  in  unreasonable  restraint 
of  trade  and  which  only  keep  rates  up  to  a  reasonable  price, 
notwithstanding  the  language  of  the  act  makes  no  such  excep- 
tion. In  other  words,  we  are  asked  to  read  into  the  act  by  way 
of  judicial  legislation  an  exception  that  is  not  placed  there  by 
the  law-making  branch  of  the  government,  and  this  is  to  be 
done  upon  the  theory  that  the  impolicy  of  such  legislation  is 
so  clear  that  it  cannot  be  supposed  Congress  intended  the  nat- 
ural import  of  the  language  it  used.  This  we  cannot  and  ought 
not  to  do.  *  *  * 

"If  the  act  ought  to  read  as  contended  for  by  defendants, 
Congress  is  the  body  to  amend  it,  and  not  this  court  by  a  pro- 
cess of  judicial  legislation  wholly  unjustifiable.  Large  num- 
bers do  not  agree  that  the  view  taken  by  defendants  is  sound 
or  true  in  substance,  and  Congress  may  and  very  probably  did 
share  in  that  belief  in  passing  the  act.  The  public  policy  of 
the  government  is  to  be  found  in  its  statutes,  and  when  they 
have  not  directly  spoken,  then  in  the  decisions  of  the  courts 
and  the  constant  practice  of  the  government  officials;  but  when 
the  law-making  power  speaks  upon  a  particular  subject,  over 
which  it  has  constitutional  power  to  legislate,  public  policy  in 
such  a  case  is  what  the  statute  enacts.  If  the  law  prohibit  any 
contract  or  combination  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce,  a 
contract  or  combination  made  in  violation  of  such  law  is  void, 
whatever  may  have  been  theretofore  decided  by  the  courts  to 
have  been  the  public  policy  of  the  country  on  that  subject.  The 
conclusion  which  we  have  drawn  from  the  examination  above 
made  into  the  question  before  us  is  that  the  anti-trust  act 
applies  to  railroads,  and  that  it  renders  illegal  all  agreements 
which  are  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  as  we  have  above 
defined  that  expression,  and  the  question  then  arises  whether 
the  agreement  before  us  is  of  that  nature." 

I  have  made  these  extended  extracts  from  the  opinion  of  the 
court  in  the  Trans-Missouri  Freight  case,  in  order  to  show 
beyond  question  that  the  point  was  there  urged  by  counsel  that 
the  anti-trust  act  condemned  only  contracts,  combinations, 
trusts  and  conspiracies  that  were  in  unreasonable  restraint  of 
interstate  commerce,  and  that  the  court  in  clear  and  decisive 
language  met  that  point.  It  adjudged  that  Congress  had  in 
unequivocal  words  declared  that  "  every  contract,  combination 


in  the  form  of  trust  or  otherwise,  or  conspiracy  in  restraint 
of  commerce  among  the  several  States "  shall  be  illegal,  and 
that  no  distinction,  so  far  as  interstate  commerce  was  con- 
cerned, was  to  be  tolerated  between  restraints  of  such  commerce 
as  were  undue  or  unreasonable  and  restraints  that  were  due  or 
reasonable.  With  full  knowledge  of  the  then  condition  of  the 
country  and  of  its  business,  Congress  determined  to  meet,  and 
did  meet,  the  situation  by  an  absolute,  statutory  prohibition  of 
"  every  contract,  combination  in  the  form  of  trust  or  otherwise, 
in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce."  Still  more,  in  response 
to  the  suggestion  by  able  counsel  that  Congress  intended  only 
to  strike  down  such  contracts,  combinations  and  monopolies 
as  unreasonably  restrained  interstate  commerce,  this  court,  in 
words  too  clear  to  be  misunderstood,  said  that  to  so  hold  was 
"to. read  into  the  act  by  way  of  judicial  legislation  an  exception 
not  placed  there  by  the  law-making  branch  of  the  government." 
"  This,"  the  court  said,  as  we  have  seen,  "  we  cannot  and 
ought  not  to  do." 

It  thus  appears  that  fifteen  years  ago,  when  the  purpose  of 
Congress  in  passing  the  anti-trust  act  was  fresh  in  the  minds 
of  courts,  lawyers,  statesmen  and  the  general  public,  this  court 
expressly  declined  to  indulge  in  judicial  legislation,  l>y  insert- 
ing in  the  act  the  word  "unreasonable"  or  any  other  word  of 
like  import.  It  may  be  stated  here  that  the  country  at  large 
accepted  this  view  of  the  act,  and  the  Federal  courts  through- 
out the  entire  country  enforced  its  provisions  according  to  the 
interpretation  given  in  the  Freight  Association  case.  What, 
then,  was  to  be  done  by  those  who  questioned  the  soundness 
of  the  interpretation  placed  on  the  act  by  this  court  in  that 
case?  As  the  court  had  decided  that  to  insert  the  word  "un- 
reasonable ".  in  the  act  would  be  "  judicial  legislation  "  on  its 
part,  the  only  alternative  left  to  those  who  opposed  the  decision 
in  that  case  was  to  induce  Congress  to  so  amend  the  act  as  to 
recognize  the  right  to  restrain  interstate  commerce  to  a  reason- 
able extent.  The  public  press,  magazines  and  law  journals,  the 
debates  in  Congress,  speeches  and  addresses  by  public  men  and 
jurists,  all  contain  abundant  evidence  of  the  general  under- 
standing that  the  meaning,  extent  and  scope  of  the  anti-trust 
act  had  been  judicially  determined  by  this  court,  and  that  the 
only  question  remaining  open  for  discussion  was  the  wisdom 
of  the  policy  declared  by  the  act — a  matter  that  was  exclusively 
within  the  cognizance  of  Congress.  But  at  every  session  of 
Congress  since  the  decision  of  1896,  the  law-making  branch 
of  the  government,  with  full  knowledge  of  that  decision,  has 
refused  to  change  the  policy  it  had  declared  or  to  so  amend  the 
act  of  1890  as  to  except  from  its  operation  contracts,  combina- 
tions and  trusts  that  reasonably  restrain  interstate  commerce. 

But  those  who  were  in  combinations  that  were  illegal  did 
not  despair.  They  at  once  set  up  the  baseless  claim  that  the 
decision  of  1896  disturbed  the  "business  interests  of  the  coun- 


547 

try,"  and  let  it  be  known  that  they  would  never  be  content 
until  the  rule  was  established  that  would  permit  interstate 
commerce  to  be  subjected  to  reasonable  restraints.  Finally,  an 
opportunity  came  again  to  raise  the  same  question  which  this 
court  had,  upon  full  consideration,  determined  in  1896.  I  now 
allude  to  the  case  of  United  States  vs.  Joint  Traffic  Associa- 
tion, 171  U.  S.,  505,  decided  in  1898.  What  was  that  case? 

It  was  a  suit  by  the  United  States  against  more  than  thirty 
railroad  companies  to  have  the  court  declare  illegal,  under  the 
anti-trust  act,  a  certain  agreement  between  these  companies. 
The  relief  asked  was  denied  in  the  subordinate  Federal  courts, 
and  the  government  brought  the  case  here. 

It  is  important  to  state  the  points  urged  in  that  case  by  the 
defendant  companies  charged  with  violating  the  anti-trust  act, 
and  to  show  that  the  court  promptly  met  them.  To  that  end 
I  make  a  copious  extract  from  the  opinion  in  the  Joint  Traffic 
case.  Among  other  things,  the  court  said: 

"  Upon  comparing  that  agreement  [the  one  in  the  Joint 
Traffic  case,  then  under  consideration,  171  U.  S.,  505]  with  the 
one  set  forth  in  the  case  of  United  States  vs.  Trans-Missouri 
Freight  Association,  166  U.  S.,  290,  the  great  similarity  be- 
tween them  suggests  that  a  similar  result  should  be  reached  in 
the  two  cases"  (p.  558). 

Learned  counsel  in  the  Joint  Traffic  case  urged  a  recon- 
sideration of  the  question  decided  in  the  Trans-Missouri  case, 
contending  that  "the  decision  in  that  case  [the  Trans-Missouri 
Freight  case]  is  quite  plainly  erroneous,  and  the  consequences 
of  such  error  are  far-reaching  and  disastrous  and  clearly  at  war 
with  justice  and  sound  policy,  and  the  construction  placed  upon 
the  anti-trust  statute  has  been  received  by  the  public  with  sur- 
prise and  alarm."  They  suggested  that  the  point  made  in  the 
Joint  Traffic  case  as  to  the  meaning  and  scope  of  the  act  might 
have  been  but  was  not  made  in  the  previous  case.  The  court 
said  (171  U.  S.,  559)  that  "the  report  of  the  Trans-Missouri 
case  clearly  shows  not  only  that  the  point  now  taken  was  there 
urged  upon  the  attention  of  the  court,  but  it  was  then  inten- 
tionally and  necessarily  decided." 

The  question  whether  the  court  should  again  consider  the 
point  decided  in  the  Trans-Missouri  case  was  disposed  of  in 
the  most  decisive  language,  as  follows: 

"  Finally,  we  are  asked  to  reconsider  the  question  decided 
in  the  Trans-Missouri  case,  and  to  retrace  the  steps  taken 
therein,  because  of  the  plain  error  contained  in  that  decision 
and  the  widespread  alarm  with  which  it  was  received  and  the 
serious  consequences  which  have  resulted  or  may  soon  result 
from  the  law  as  interpreted  in  that  case.  It  is  proper  to  remark 
that  an  application  for  a  reconsideration  of  a  question  but 
lately  decided  by  this  court  is  usually  based  upon  a  statement 
that  some  of  the  arguments  employed  on  the  original  hearing 
of  the  question  have  been  overlooked  or  misunderstood,  or  that 


548 

some  controlling  authority  has  been  either  misapplied  by  the 
court  or  passed  over  without  discussion  or  notice.  While  this 
is  not  strictly  an  application  for  a  rehearing  in  the  same  case, 
yet  in  substance  it  is  the  same  thing.  The  court  is  asked  to 
reconsider  a  question  but  just  decided  after  a  careful  investiga- 
tion of  the  matter  involved.  There  have  heretofore  been  in 
effect  two  arguments  of  precisely  the  same  questions  now  before 
the  court,  and  the  same  arguments  were  addressed  to  us  on 
both  those  occasions.  The  report  of  the.  Trans-Missouri  case 
shows  a  dissenting  opinion  delivered  in  that  case,  and  that  the 
opinion  was  concurred  in  by  three  other  members  of  the  court. 
That  opinion,  it  will  be  seen,  gives  with  great  force  and  ability 
the  arguments  against  the  decision  which  was  finally  arrived 
at  by  the  court.  It  was  after  a  full  discussion  of  the  questions 
involved  and  with  the  knowledge  of  the  views  entertained  by 
the  minority,  as  expressed  in  the  dissenting  opinion,  that  the 
majority  of  the  court  came  to  the  conclusion  it  did.  Soon  after 
the  decision  a  petition  for  a  rehearing  of  the  case  was  made, 
supported  by  a  printed  argument  in  its  favor,  and  pressed  with 
an  earnestness  and  vigor  and  at  a  length  which  were  certainly 
commensurate  with  the  importance  of  the  case.  This  court, 
with  care  and  deliberation  and  also  with  a  full  appreciation 
of  their  importance,  again  considered  the  questions  involved 
in  its  former  decision.  A  majority  of  the  court  once  more 
arrived  at  the  conclusion  it  had  first  announced,  and  accord- 
ingly it  denied  the  application.  And  now  for  the  third  time 
the  same  arguments  are  employed,  and  the  court  is  again  asked 
to  recant  its  former  opinion,  and  to  decide  the  same  question 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  conclusion  arrived  at  in  the  Trans- 
Missouri  case.  The  learned  counsel  while  making  the  applica- 
tion frankly  confess  that  the  argument  in  opposition  to  the 
decision  in  the  case  above  named  has  been  so  fully,  so  clearly 
and  so  forcibly  presented  in  the  dissenting  opinion  of  Mr.  Jus- 
tice White  [in  the  Freight  case]  that  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
add  to  it,  nor  is  it  necessary  to  repeat  it.  The  fact  that  there 
was  so  close  a  division  of  opinion  in  this  court  when  the  matter 
was  first  under  advisement,  together  with  the  different  views 
taken  by  some  of  the  judges  of  the  lower  courts,  led  us  to  the 
most  careful  and  scrutinizing  examination  of  the  arguments 
advanced  by  both  sides,  and  it  was  after  such  an  examination 
that  the  majority  of  the  court  came  to  the  conclusion  it  did. 
It  is  not  now  alleged  that  the  court  on  the  former  occasion  over- 
looked any  argument  for  the  respondents  or  misapplied  any 
controlling  authority.  It  is  simply  insisted  that  the  court, 
notwithstanding  the  arguments  for  an  opposite  view,  arrived 
at  an  erroneous  result  which,  for  reasons  already  stated,  ought 
to  be  reconsidered  and  reversed.  As  we  have  twice  already 
deliberately  and  earnestly  considered  the  same  arguments  which 
are  now  for  a  third  time  pressed  upon  our  attention,  it  could 
hardly  be  expected  that  our  opinion  should  now  change  from 
that  already  expressed." 


549 

These  utterances,  taken  in  connection  with  what  was  pre- 
viously said  in  the  Trans-Missouri  Freight  case,  show  so  clearly 
and  affirmatively  as  to  admit  of  no  doubt  that  this  court  many 
years  ago,  upon  the  fullest  consideration,  interpreted  the  anti- 
trust act  as  prohibiting  and  making  illegal  not  only  every  con- 
tract or  combination,  in  whatever  form,  which  was  in  restraint 
of  interstate  commerce,  without  regard  to  its  reasonableness  or 
unreasonableness,  but  all  monopolies  or  attempt  to  monopolize 
"  any  part "  of  such  trade  or  commerce.  Let  me  refer  to  a 
few  other  cases  in  which  the  scope  of  the  decision  in  the  Freight 
Association  case  was  referred  to :  In  Bement  vs.  National  Har- 
row Company  (186  U.  S.,  70,  92)  the  court  said,  "It  is  true 
that  it  has  been  held  by  this  court  that  the  act  (anti-trust  act) 
included  any  restraint  of  commerce,  whether  reasonable  or  un- 
reasonable/' citing  United  States  vs.  Trans-Missouri  Freight 
Association  (166  U.  S.,  290) ;  United  States  vs.  Joint  Traffic 
Association  (171  U.  S.,  505)  ;  Addyston  Pipe,  etc.,  Co.  vs. 
United  States  (175  U.  S.,  211).  In  Montague  vs.  Lowry  (193 
U.  S.,  38,  46),  which  involved  the  validity,  under  the  anti- 
trust act,  of  a  certain  association  formed  for  the  sale  of  tiles, 
mantels  and  grates,  the  court,  referring  to  the  contention  that 
the  sale  of  tiles  in  San  Francisco  was  so  small  "  as  to  be  a 
negligible  quantity/'  held  that  the  association  was,  neverthe- 
less, a  combination  in  restraint  of  interstate  trade  or  commerce 
in  violation  of  the  anti-trust  act.  In  Loewe  vs.  Lawlor  (208 
U.  S.,  274,  297)  all  the  members  of  this  court  concurred  in 
saying  that  the  Trans-Missouri,  Joint  Traffic  and  Northern 
Securities  cases  "hold  in  effect  that  the  anti-trust  law  has  a 
broader  application  than  the  prohibition  of  restraints  of  trade 
unlawful  at  common  law."  In  Shawnee  Compress  Company 
vs.  Anderson  (1907)  (209  U.  S.,  423,  432)  all  the  members 
of  the  court  again  concurred  in  declaring  that  "  it  has  been 
decided  that  not  only  unreasonable  but  all  direct  restraints  of 
trade  are  prohibited,  the  law  being  thereby  distinguished  from 
the  common  law.  In  United  States  vs.  Addyston  Pipe  Co. 
(85  Fed.  Bep.,  278)  Judge  Taft,  speaking  for  the  Circuit 
Court  of  Appeals  for  the  Sixth  Circuit,  said  that  according  to 
the  decision  of  this  court  in  the  Freight  Association  case  "  con- 
tracts in  restraint  of  interstate  transportation  were  within  the 
statute,  whether  the  restraints  could  be  regarded  as  reasonable 
at  common  law  or  not."  In  Chesapeake  &  Ohio  Fuel  Company 
vs.  United  States  (1902)  (115  Fed.  Eep.,  610,  619)  the  Circuit 
Court  of  Appeals  for  the  Sixth  Circuit,  after  referring  to  the 
right  of  Congress  to  regulate  interstate  commerce,  thus  inter- 
preted the  prior  decisions  of  this  court  in  the  Trans-Missouri, 
the  Joint  Traffic  and  the  Addyston  Pipe  &  Steel  Company 
cases :  "  In  the  exercise  of  this  right  Congress  has  seen  fit  to 
prohibit  all  contracts  in  restraint  of  trade.  It  has  not  left  to 
the  courts  the  consideration  of  the  question  whether  such  re- 
straint is  reasonable  or  unreasonable,  or  whether  the  contract 


550 

would  have  been  illegal  at  the  common  law  or  not.  The  act 
leaves  for  consideration  by  judicial  authority  no  question  of 
this  character,  but  all  contracts  and  combinations  are  declared 
illegal  if  in  restraint  of  trade  or  commerce  among  the  States." 

As  far  back  as  Bobbins  vs.  Shelby  Taxing  District  (120 
U.  S.,  489.,  497),  it  was  held  that  certain  local  regulations,  sub- 
jecting drummers  engaged  in  both  interstate  and  domestic 
trade,  could  not  be  sustained  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  no  dis- 
crimination was  made  among  citizens  of  the  different  States. 
The  court  observed  that  this  did  not  meet  the  difficulty,  for 
the  reason  that  "  interstate  commerce  cannot  be  taxed  at  all." 
Under  this  view  Congress  no  doubt  acted  when,  by  the  anti- 
trust act,  it  forbade  any  restraint  whatever  upon  interstate 
commerce.  It  manifestly  proceeded  upon  the  theory  that  inter- 
state commerce  could  not  be  restrained  at  all  by  combinations, 
trusts  or  monopolies,  but  must  be  allowed  to  flow  in  its  accus- 
tomed channels,  wholly  unvexed  and  unobstructed  by  anything 
that  would  restrain  its  ordinary  movement.  (See  also  Minne- 
sota vs.  Barber,  136  U.  S.,  313,  326;  Brimmer  vs.  Eebman, 
138  U.  S.,  78,  82,  83.) 

In  tihe  opinion  delivered  on  behalf  of  the  minority  in  the 
Northern  Securities  case  (193  U.  S.)  our  present  Chief  Justice 
referred  to  the  contentions  made  by  the  defendants  in  the 
Freight  Association  case,  namely,  one  of  which  was  that  the 
agreement  there  involved  did  not  unreasonably  restrain  inter- 
state commerce,  and  said: 

"Both  these  contentions  were  decided  against  the  associa- 
tion, the  court  holding  that  the  anti-trust  act  did  embrace  inter- 
state carriage  by  railroad  corporations,  and  as  that  act  pro- 
hibited any  contract  in  restraint  of  interstate  commerce,  it 
hence  embraced  all  contracts  of  that  character,  whether  they 
were  reasonable  or  unreasonable." 

One  of  the  justices  who  dissented  in  the  Northern  Securi- 
ties case,  in  a  separate  opinion,  concurred  in  by  the  minority, 
thus  referred  to  the  freight  and  joint  traffic  cases: 

"  For  it  cannot  be  too  carefully  remembered  that  that  clause 
applies  to  ( every '  contract  of  the  forbidden  kind — a  considera- 
tion which  was  the  turning  point  of  the  Trans-Missouri  Freight 
Association  case.  *  *  *  Size  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
matter.  A  monopoly  of  (  any  part '  of  commerce  among  the 
States  is  unlawful." 

In  this  connection  it  may  be  well  to  refer  to  the  adverse 
report  made  in  1909,  by  Senator  Nelson,  on  behalf  of  the  Sen- 
ate Judiciary  Committee,  in  reference  to  a  certain  bill  offered 
in  the  Senate  and  which  proposed  to  amend  the  anti-trust  act 
in  various  particulars.  That  report  contains  a  full,  careful  and 
able  analysis  of  judicial  decisions  relating  to  combinations  and 
monopolies  in  restraint  of  trade  and  commerce.  Among  other 
things  said  in  it  which  bear  on  the  questions  involved  in  the 
present  case  are  these: 


551 

"  The  anti-trust  act  makes  it  a  criminal  offense  to  violate 
the  law,  and  provides  a  punishment  both  by  fine  and  imprison- 
ment. To  inject  into  the  act  the  question  of  whether  an  agree- 
ment or  combination  is  reasonable  or  unreasonable  would  ren- 
der the  act  as  a  criminal  or  penal  statute  indefinite  and  uncer- 
tain, and  hence,  to  that  extent,  utterly  nugatory  and  void,  and 
would  practically  amount  to  a  repeal  of  that  part  of  the  act. 
*  *  *  And  while  the  same  technical  objection  does  not  apply 
to  civil  prosecutions,  the  injection  of  the  rule  of  reasonable- 
ness or  unreasonableness  would  lead  to  the  greatest  variable- 
ness and  uncertainty  in  the  enforcement  of  the  law.  The  de- 
fense of  reasonable  restraint  would  be  made  in  every  case,  and 
there  would  be  as  many  different  rules  of  reasonableness  as 
cases,  courts  and  juries.  What  one  court  or  jury  might  deem 
unreasonable  another  court  or  jury  might  deem  reasonable. 
A  court  or  jury  in  Ohio  might  find  a  given  agreement  or  com- 
bination reasonable,  while  a  court  and  jury  in  Wisconsin  might 
find  the  same  agreement  and  combination  unreasonable.  In 
the  case  of  the  People  vs.  Sheldon  (139  X.  Y.,  264)  Chief 
Justice  Andrews  remarks :  f  If  agreements  and  combinations 
to  prevent  competition  in  prices  are  or  may  be  hurtful  to  trade, 
the  only  sure  remedy  is  to  prohibit  all  agreements  of  that 
character.  If  the  validity  of  such  an  agreement  was  made  to 
depend  upon  actual  proof  of  public  prejudice  or  injury,  it 
would  be  very  difficult  in  any  case  to  establish  the  invalidity, 
although  the  moral  evidence  might  be  very  convincing/  *  *  * 
To  amend  the  anti-trust  act,  as  suggested  by  this  bill,  would  be 
io  entirely  emasculate  it,  and  for  all  practical  purposes  render 
it  nugatory  as  a  remedial  statute.  Criminal  prosecutions  would 
not  lie,  and  civil  remedies  would  labor  under  the  greatest  doubt 
and  uncertainty.  The  act  as  it  exists  is  clear,  comprehensive, 
certain  and  highly  remedial.  It  practically  covers  the  field  of 
Federal  jurisdiction,  and  is  in  every  respect  a  model  law.  To 
destroy  or  undermine  it  at  the  present  juncture,  when  combina- 
tions are  on  the  increase  and  appear  to  be  as  oblivious  as  ever 
of  the  rights  of  the  public,  would  be  a  calamity." 

The  result  was  the  indefinite  postponement  by  the  Senate 
of  any  further  consideration  of  the  proposed  amendments  of 
the  anti-trust  act. 

After  what  has  been  adjudged,  upon  full  consideration,  as 
to  the  meaning  and  scope  of  the  anti-trust  act,  and  in  view 
of  the  usages  of  this  court  when  attorneys  for  litigants  have 
attempted  to  reopen  questions  that  have  been  deliberately  de- 
cided, I  confess  to  no  little  surprise  as  to  what  has  occurred 
in  the  present  case.  The  court  says  that  the  previous  cases, 
above  cited,  "  cannot  by  any  possible  conception  be  treated  as 
authoritative  without  the  certitude  that  reason  was  resorted  to 
for  the  purpose  of  deciding  them."  And  its  opinion  is  full  of 
intimations  that  this  court  proceeded  in  those  cases,  so  far  as 
the  present  question  is  concerned,  without  being  guided  by  the 


552 

"  rule  of  reason "  or  "  the  light  of  reason."  It  is  more  than 
once  intimated,  if  not  suggested,  that  if  the  anti-trust  act  is  to 
be  construed  as  prohibiting  every  contract  or  combination,  of 
whatever  nature,  which  is  in  fact  in  restraint  of  commerce, 
regardless  of  the  reasonableness  or  unreasonableness  of  such 
restraint,  that  fact  would  show  that  the  court  had  not  proceeded, 
in  its  decision,  according  to  "  the  light  of  reason,"  but  had  dis- 
regarded the  "  rule  of  reason/'  If  the  court,  in  those  cases, 
was  wrong  in  its  construction  of  the  act,  it  is  certain  that  it 
fully  apprehended  the  views  advanced  by  learned  counsel  in 
previous  cases  and  pronounced  them  to  be  untenable.  The  pub- 
lished reports  place  this  beyond  all  question.  The  opinion  of 
the  court  was  delivered  by  a  justice  of  wide  experience  as  a 
judicial  officer,. and  the  court  had  before  it  the  attorney-general 
of  the  United  States  and  lawyers  who  were  recognized  on  all 
sides  as  great  leaders  in  their  profession.  The  same  eminent 
jurist  who  delivered  the  opinion  in  the  Trans-Missouri  case 
delivered  the  opinion  in  the  Joint  Traffic  case,  while  the  asso- 
ciation in  the  latter  case  was  represented  by  lawyers  whose 
ability  was  universally  recognized.  Is  it  to  be  supposed  that 
any  point  escaped  notice  in  those  cases  when  we  think  of  the 
sagacity  of  the  justice  who  expressed  the  views  of  the  court 
or  of  the  ability  of  the  profound,  astute  lawyers  who  sought 
such  an  interpretation  of  the  act  as  would  compel  the  court  to 
insert  words  in  the  statute  which  Congress  had  not  put  there, 
and  the  insertion  of  which  words  would  amount  to  "judicial 
legislation  "  ? 

Now,  this  court  is  asked  to  do  that  which  it  has  distinctly 
declared  it  could  not  and  would  not  do,  and  has  now  done 
what  it  then  said  it  could  not  constitutionally  do.  It  has  by 
mere  interpretation  modified  the  act  of  Congress  and  deprived 
it  of  practical  value  as  a  defensive  measure  against  the  evils 
to  be  remedied.  On  reading  the  opinion  just  delivered  the 
first  inquiry  will  be  that  as  the  court  is  unanimous  in  holding 
that  the  particular  things  done  by  the  Standard  Oil  Company 
and  its  subsidiary  companies  in  this  case  were  illegal  under 
the  anti-trust  act,  whether  those  things  were  in  reasonable  or 
unreasonable  restraint  of  interstate  commerce,  why  was  it  neces- 
sary to  make  an  elaborate  argument,  as  is  done  in  the  opinion, 
to  show  that,  according  to  the  "rule  of  reason,"  the  act  as 
passed  by  Congress  should  be  interpreted  as  if  it  contained  the 
word  "  unreasonable  "  or  the  word  "  undue  "  ?  The  only  answer 
which  in  frankness  can  be  given  to  this  question  is  that  the 
court  intends  to  decide  that  its  deliberate  judgment  fifteen  years 
ago  to  the  effect  that  the  act  permitted  no  restraint  whatever 
of  interstate  commerce,  whether  reasonable  or  unreasonable, 
was  not  in  accordance  with  the  "rule  of  reason."  In  effect 
the  court  says  that  it  will  now  for  the  first  time  bring  the  dis- 
cussion under  the  "light  of  reason"  and  apply  the  "rule  of 
reason"  to  the  questions  to  be  decided.  I  have  the  authority 


553 

of  this  court 'for  saying  that  such  a  course  of  proceeding  on 
its  part  would  be  "  judicial  legislation." 

Still  more,  what  is  now  done  involves  a  serious  departure 
from  the  settled  usages  of  this  court.  Counsel  have  not  ordi- 
narily been  allowed  to  discuss  questions  already  settled  by  pre- 
vious decisions.  More  than  once  at  the  present  term  that  rule 
has  been  applied.  In  St.  Louis,  I.  M.  &  S.  Ey.  Co.  vs.  Taylor 
(210  U.  S.,  281)  the  court  had  occasion  to  determine  the 
meaning  and  scope  of  the  original  safety-appliance  act  of  Con- 
gress passed  for  the  protection  of  railroad  employees  and  pas- 
sengers on  interstate  trains.  (27  Stat.,  531.)  A  particular 
construction  of  that  act  was  insisted  upon  by  the  interstate 
carrier  which  was  sued  under  the  safety-appliance  act;  and  the 
contention  was  that  a  different  construction  than  the  one 
insisted  upon  by  the  carrier  would  be  a  harsh  one.  After  quot- 
ing the  words  of  the  act,  Mr.  Justice  Moody  said  for  the  court : 

"  There  is  no  escape  from  the  meaning  of  these  words. 
Explanation  cannot  clarify  them,  and  ought  not  to  be  employed 
to  confuse  them  or  lessen  their  significance.  The  obvious  pur- 
pose of  the  legislature  was  to  supplant  the  qualified  duty  of 
the  common  law  with  an  absolute  duty  deemed  by  it  more  just. 
If  the  railroad  does,  in  point  of  fact,  use  cars  which  do  not 
comply  with  the  standard,  it  violates  the  plain  prohibitions 
of  the  law,  and  there  arises  from  that  violation  the  liability 
to  make  compensation  to  one  who  is  injured  by  it.  It  is  urged 
that  this  is  a  harsh  construction.  To  this  we  reply  that,  if  it 
be  the  true  construction,  its  harshness  is  no  concern  of  the 
courts.  They  have  no  responsibility  for  the  justice  or  wisdom 
of  legislation  and  no  duty  except  to  enforce  the  law  as  it  is 
written,  unless  it  is  clearly  beyond  the  constitutional  power  of 
the  law-making  body.  *  *  It  is  quite  conceivable  that 

Congress,  contemplating  the  inevitable  hardship  of  such  injuries, 
and  hoping  to  diminish  the  economic  loss  to  the  community 
resulting  from  them,  should  deem  it  wise  to  impose  their  bur- 
dens upon  those  who  could  measurably  control  their  causes, 
instead  of  upon  those  who  are  in  the  main  helpless  in  that 
regard.  Such  a  policy  would  be  intelligible  and,  to  say  the  least, 
not  so  unreasonable  as  to  require  us  to  doubt  that  it  was 
intended  and  to  seek  some  unnatural  interpretation  of  common 
words.  We  see  no  error  in  this  part  of  the  case." 

And  at  the  present  term  of  this  court  we  were  asked,  in  a 
case  arising  under  the  safety-appliance  act, .  to  reconsider  the 
question  decided  in  the  Taylor  case.  We  declined  to  do  so, 
saying  in  an  opinion  just  now  handed  down : 

"  In  view  of  these  facts,  we  are  unwilling  to  regard  the 
question  as  to  the  meaning  and  scope  of  the  safety-appliance 
act,  so  far  as  it  relates  to  automatic  couplers  on  trains  moving 
interstate  traffic,  as  open  to  further  discussion  here.  If  the 
court  was  wrong  in  the  Taylor  case  the  way  is  open  for  such  an 
amendment  of  the  statute  as  Congress  may,  in  its  discretion, 


554 

deem  proper.  This  court  ought  not  now  disturb  what  has  been 
so  widely,  accepted  and  acted  upon  by  the  courts  as  having  been 
decided  in  that  case.  A  contrary  course  would  cause  infinite 
uncertainty,  if  not  mischief,  in  the  administration  of  the  la-w- 
in the  Federal  courts.  To  avoid  misapprehension,  it  is  appro- 
priate to  say  that  we  are  not  to  be  understood  as  questioning 
the  soundness  of  the  interpretation  heretofore  placed  by  this 
court  upon  the  safety-appliance  act.  We  only  mean  to  say  that 
until  Congress,  by  an  amendment  of  the  statute,  changes  the 
rule  announced  in  the  Taylor  case  this  court  will  adhere  to  and 
apply  that  rule."  (C.  B.  &  Q.  By.  Co.  vs.  United  States,  220 
U.  S.) 

When  counsel  in  the  present  case  insisted  upon  a  reversal  of 
the  former  rulings  of  this  court  and  asked  such  an  interpreta- 
tion of  the  anti-trust  act  as  would  allow  reasonable  restraints 
of  interstate  commerce,  this  court,  in  deference  to  established 
practice,  should,  I  submit  have  said  to  them : 

"  That  question,  according  to  our  practice,  is  not  open  for 
further  discussion  here.  This  court  long  ago  deliberately  held 
(1)  that  the  act,  interpreting  its  words  in  their  ordinary 
acceptation,  prohibits  all  restraints  of  interstate  commerce  by 
combinations  in  whatever  form,  and  whether  reasonable  or  un- 
reasonable; (2)  the  question  relates  to  matters  of  public  policy 
in  reference  to  commerce  among  the  States  and  with  foreign 
nations,  and  Congress  alone  can  deal  with  the  subject;  (3) 
this  court  would  encroach  upon  the  authority  of  Congress  if, 
under  the  guise  of  construction,  it  should  assume  to  determine 
a  matter  of  public  policy;  (4)  the  parties  must  go  to  Congress 
and  obtain  an  amendment  of  the  anti-trust  act  if  they  think 
this  court  was  wrong  in  its  former  decisions;  and  (5)  this 
court  cannot  and  will  not  judicially  legislate,  since  its  func- 
tion is  to  declare  the  law,  while  it  belongs  to  the  legislative 
department  to  make  the  law.  Such  a  course,  I  am  sure,  would 
not  have  offended  the  ( rule  of  reason/  ?; 

But  my  brethren,  in  their  wisdom,  have  deemed  it  best  to 
pursue  a  different  course.  They  have  now  said  to  those  who 
condemn  our  former  decisions  and  who  object  to  all  legislative 
prohibitions  of  contracts,  combinations  and  trusts  in  restraint 
of  interstate  commerce,  "  You  may  now  restrain  such  com- 
merce, provided  you  are  reasonable  about  it;  only  take  care 
that  the  restraint  is  not  undue."  The  disposition  of  the  case 
under  consideration,  according  to  the  views  of  the  defendants, 
will,  it  is  claimed,  quiet  and  give  rest  to  "the  business  of  the 
country."  On  the  contrary,  I  have  a  strong  conviction  that  it 
will  throw  the  business  of  the  country  into  confusion  and 
invite  widely  extended  and  harassing  litigation,  the  injurious 
effects  of  which  will  be  felt  for  many  years  to  come.  When 
Congress  prohibited  every  contract,  combination  or  monopoly 
in  restraint  of  commerce,  it  prescribed  a  simple,  definite  rule 
that  all  could  understand,  and  which  could  be  easily  applied 


555 

by  everyone  wishing  to  obey  the  law  and  not  to  conduct  their 
business  in  violation  of  law.  But  now,  it  is  to  be  feared,  vwe 
are  to  have,  in  cases  without  number,  the  constantly  recurring 
inquiry — difficult  to  solve  by  proof — whether  the  particular  con- 
tract, combination  or  trust  involved  in  each  case  is  or  is  vnot 
an  "  unreasonable  "  or  "  undue  "  restraint  of  trade.  Congress, 
in  effect,  said  that  there  should  be  no  restraint  of  trade,  in  any 
form,  and  this  court  solemnly  adjudged  many  years  ago  that 
Congress  meant  what  it  thus  said  in  clear  and  explicit  words, 
and  that  it  could  not  add  to  the  words  of  the  act.  But  those 
who  condemn  the  action  of  Congress  are  now,  in  effect,  informed 
that  the  courts  will  allow  such  restraints  of  interstate  com- 
merce as  are  shown  not  to  be  unreasonable  or  undue. 

It  remains  for  me  to  refer,  more  fully  than  I  have  hereto- 
fore done,  to  another  and,  in  my  judgment — if  we  look  to  the 
future — the  most  important  aspect  of  this  case.  That  aspect 
concerns  the  usurpation  by  the  judicial  branch  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  functions  of  the  legislative  department.  The 
illustrious  men  who  laid  the  foundations  of  our  institutions 
deemed  no  part  of  the  national  Constitution  of  more  conse- 
quence or  more  essential  to  the  permanency  of  our  form  of 
government  than  the  provisions  under  which  were  distributed 
the  powers  of  government  among  three  separate,  equal  and  co- 
ordinate departments — legislative,  executive  and  judicial.  This 
was  at  that  time  a  new  feature  of  governmental  regulation 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth,  and  it  is  deemed  by  the  people 
of  every  section  of  our  own  country  as  most  vital  in  the  work- 
ings of  a  representative  republic  whose  constitution  was 
ordained  and  established  in  order  to  accomplish  the  objects 
stated  in  its  preamble  by  the  means,  but  only  by  the  means, 
provided  either  expressly  or  by  necessary  implication,  by  the 
instrument  itself.  No  department  of  that  government  can  con- 
stitutionally exercise  the  powers  committed  strictly  to  another 
and  separate  department. 

I  said  at  the  outset  that  the  action  of  the  court  in  this  case 
might  well  alarm  thoughtful  men  who  revered  the  Constitu- 
tion. I  meant  by  this  that  many  things  are  intimated  and  said 
in  the  court's  opinion  which  will  not  be  regarded  otherwise  than 
as  sanctioning  an  invasion  by  the  judiciary  of  the  constitutional 
domain  of  Congress — an  attempt  by  interpretation  to  soften 
or  modify  what  some  regard  as  a  harsh  public  policy.  This 
court,  let  me  repeat,  solemnly  adjudged  many  years  ago  that 
it  could  not,  except  by  "  judicial  legislation,"  read  words  into 
the  anti-trust  act  not  put  there  by  Congress,  and  which,  being 
inserted,  give  it  a  meaning  which  the  words  of  the  act,  as  passed, 
if  properly  interpreted,  would  not  justify.  The  court  has 
decided  that  it  could  not  thus  change  a  public  policy  formulated 
and  declared  by  Congress;  that  Congress  has  paramount  author- 
ity to  regulate  interstate  commerce,  and  that  it  alone  can 
change  a  policy  once  inaugurated  by  legislation.  The  courts 


556 

have  nothing  to  do  with  the  wisdom  or  policy  of  an  act  of 
Congress.  Their  duty  is  to  ascertain  the  will  of  Congress,  and 
if  the  statute  embodying  the  expression  of  that  will  is  consti- 
tutional, the  courts  must  respect  it.  They  have  no  function 
to  declare  a  public  policy,  nor  to  amend  legislative  enactments. 
"What  is  termed  the  policy  of  the  government  with  reference 
to  any  particular  legislation,"  as  this  court  has  said,  "is  gen- 
erally a  very  uncertain  thing,  upon  which  all  sorts  of  opinions, 
each  variant  from  the  other,  may  be  formed  by  different  per- 
sons. It  is  a  ground  much  too  unstable  upon  which  to  rest  the 
judgment  of  the  court  in  the  interpretation  of  the  statutes/7 
(Hadden  vs.  Collector,  5  Wall.,  107.)  Nevertheless,  if  I  do 
not  misapprehend  its  opinion,  the  court  has  now  read  into  the 
act  of  Congress  words  which  are  not  to  be  found  there,  and 
has  thereby  done  that  which  it  adjudged  in  1896  and  1898 
could  not  be  done  without  violating  the  Constitution,  namely, 
by  interpretation  of  a  statute  changed  a  public  policy  declared 
by  the  legislative  department. 

After  many  years  of  public  service  at  the  national  capital, 
and  after  a  somewhat  close  observation  of  the  conduct  of  public 
affairs,  I  am  impelled  to  say  that  there  is  abroad  in  our  land 
a  most  harmful  tendency  to  bring  about  the  amending  of  con- 
stitutions and  legislative  enactments  by  means  alone  of  judicial 
construction.  As  a  public  policy  has  been  declared  by  the  legis- 
lative department  in  respect  of  interstate  commerce,  over  which 
Congress  has  entire  control,  under  the  Constitution,  all  con- 
cerned must  patiently  submit  to  what  has  been  lawfully  done, 
until  the  people  of  the  United  States — the  source  of  all  national 
power — shall,  in  their  own  time,  upon  reflection  and  through 
the  legislative  department  of  the  government,  require  a  change 
of  that  policy.  There  are  some  who  say  that  it  is  a  part  of  one's 
liberty  to  conduct  commerce  among  the  States  without  being 
subject  to  governmental  authority.  But  that  would  not  be 
liberty  regulated  by  law,  and  liberty  which  cannot  be  regulated 
by  law  is  not  to  be  desired.  The  supreme  law  of  the  land — 
which  is  binding  alike  upon  all — upon  presidents,  congresses, 
the  courts  and  the  people — gives  to  Congress,  and  to  Congress 
alone,  authority  to  regulate  interstate  commerce,  and  when 
Congress  forbids  any  restraint  of  such  commerce,  in  any  form, 
all  must  obey  its  mandate.  To  overreach  the  action  of  Con- 
gress merely  by  judicial  construction — that  is,  by  indirection — 
is  a  blow  at  the  integrity  of  our  governmental  system,  and  in 
the  end  will  prove  most  dangerous  to  all.  Mr.  Justice  Bradley 
wisely  said,  when  on  this  bench,  that  illegitimate  and  uncon- 
stitutional practices  get  their  first  footing  by  silent  approaches 
and  slight  deviations  from  legal  modes  of  legal  procedure.  (Boyd 
vs.  United  States,  116  U.  S.,  616,  635.)  We  shall  do  well  to 
heed  the  warnings  of  that  great  jurist. 

I  do  not  stop  to  discuss  the  merits  of  the  policy  embodied 
in  the  anti-trust  act  of  1890 ;  for,  as  has  been  often  adjudged, 


557 

the  courts,  under  our  constitutional  system,  have  no  rightful 
concern  with  the  wisdom  or  policy  of  legislation  enacted  by  that 
branch  of  the  government  which  alone  can  make  laws. 

For  the  reasons  stated,  while  concurring  in  the  general 
affirmance  of  the  decree  of  the  circuit  court,  I  dissent  from  that 
part  of  the  judgment  of  this  court  which  directs  the  modifica- 
tion of  the  decree  of  the  circuit  court,  as  well  as  from  those 
parts  of  the  opinion  which,  in  effect,  assert  authority,  in  this 
court,  to  insert  words  in  the  anti-trust  act  which  Congress  did 
not  put  there,  and  which,  being  inserted,  Congress  is  made 
to  declare,  as  part  of  the  public  policy  of  the  country,  what  it 
•has  not  chosen  to  declare. 


558 


UNITED   STATES   FS.    AMERICAN    TOBACCO 
COMPANY. 

Mr.  Chief  Justice  White  delivered  the  opinion  of  the  court : 
This  suit  was  commenced  on  July  19,  1907,  by  the  United 
States  to  prevent  the  continuance  of  alleged  violations  of  the 
first  and  second  sections  of  the  anti-trust  act  of  July  2,  1890. 
The  defendants  were  twenty-nine  individuals,  named  in  the 
margin,*  sixty-five  American  corporations,  most  of  them  created 
in  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  and  two  English  corporations.  For 
convenience  of  statement  we  classify  the  corporate  defendants, 
exclusive  of  the  two  foreign  ones,  which  we  shall  hereafter 
separately  refer  to,  as  follows :  The  American  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, a  New  Jersey  corporation,  because  of  its  dominant  rela- 
tion to  the  subject  matter  of  the  controversy  as  the  primary 
defendant,  five  other  New  Jersey  corporations  (viz.,  American 
"Snuff  Company,  American  Cigar  Company,  American  Stogie 
Company,  MacAndrews  &  Forbes  Company  and  Conley  Foil 
Company),  because  of  their  relation  to  the  controversy  as  the 
accessory  and  the  fifty-nine  other  American  corporations  as  the 
subsidiary  defendants. 

The  ground  of  complaint  against  the  American  Tobacco 
Company  rested  not  alone  upon  the  nature  and  character  of  that 
corporation  and  the  power  which  it  exerted  directly  over  the 
five  accessory  corporations  and  some  of  the  subsidiary  corpo- 
rations by  stock  ownership  in  such  corporations,  but  also  upon 
the  control  which  it  exercised  over  the  subsidiary  companies 
by  virtue  of  stock  held  in  said  companies  by  the  accessory  com- 
panies by  stock  ownership  in  which  the  American  Tobacco 
Company  exerted  its  power  of  control .  The  accessory  companies 
were  impleaded  either  because  of  their  nature  and  character 
or  because  of  the  power  exerted  over  them  through  stock  owner- 
ship by  the  American  Tobacco  Company,  and  also  because  of 
the  power  which  they  in  turn  exerted  by  stock  ownership  over 
the  subsidiary  corporations,  and,  finally,  the  subsidiary  cor- 
porations were  impleaded  either  because  of  their  nature  or  be- 
cause of  the  control  to  which  they  were  subjected  in  and  by 
virtue  of  the  stock  ownership  above  stated.  We  append  in  the 
margin  a  statement  showing  the  stock  control  exercised  by  the 
principal  defendant,  the  American  Tobacco  Company,  over  the 
five  accessory  corporations,  and  also  the  authority  which  it 

*  James  B.  Duke,  Caleb  C.  Dula,  Percival  S.  Hill,  George  Arents,  Paul 
Brown,  Robert  B.  Dula,  George  A.  Heline,  Robert  D.  Lewis,  Thomas  -T. 
Maloney,  Oliver  H.  Payne,  Thomas  F.  Ryan,  Robert  K.  Smith,  George  W. 
Watts,  George  G.  Allen.  John  B.  Cobb.  William  R.  Harris,  William  H. 
McAllister,  Anthony  X.  Brady,  Benjamin  X.  Duke,  TT.  M.  Hanna,  Herbert  D. 
Kingsbury.  Pierre  Lorillard,  Rufus  L.  Patterson,  Frank  H.  Ray.  Grant  B. 
Schley,  Charles  N.  Strotz.  Peter  A.  B.  Widener,  Welford  C.  Reed  (now 
deceased),  and  Williamson  W.  Fuller. 


559 

directly  exercised  over  certain  of  the  subsidiary  corporations, 
and  a  list  showing  the  control  exercised  over  the  subsidiary 
corporations  as  a  result  of  the  stock  ownership  in  the  accessory 
corporations,  they  being  in  turn  controlled,  as  we  have  said, 
by  the  principal  defendant,  the  American  Tobacco  Company.* 
The  two  foreign  corporations  were  impleaded  either  because 
of  their  nature  and  character  and  the  operation  and  effect  of 

*Extent  of  control  of  American  Tobacco  Co.  over  the  accessory  corpora- 
tions :  - 

American  Snuff  Co.  Of  120,000  shares  of  preferred  stock  owns  12,517  shares 
directly  and  11,274  shares  by  reason  of  stock  control  of  P.  Lorillard  Co.,  in 
all,  23,764  shares;  of  110,017  shares  of  common  stock  owns  41,214  directly 
and  34,594  by  reason  of  stock  control  of  P.  Lorillard  Co.,  in  all,  75,808  shares. 

American  Cigar  Co.  Of  100,000  shares  of  preferred  stock  owns  89,730 
shares  directly  and  5,000  shares  through  control  of  American  Snuff  Co.,  in  all, 
94,700  shares;  of  100,000  shares  of  common  stock  owns  directly  77,451  shares. 

American  Stogie  Co.  Of  108,790  shares  of  common  stock  controls  73,072% 
shares  through  stock  interest  in  American  Snuff  Co.  The  American  Stogie  Co. 
owns  all  of  the  stock — 12,500 — of  the  Union  American  Cigar  Co. — cigars  and 
stogies. 

MacAndrews  &  Forbes  Co.  Of  37,583  shares  of  preferred  stock  (no  voting 
power)  owns  7,500  shares;  of  30,000  shares  of  common  stock  owns  21,129 
shares  directly  and  983  shares  through  stock  control  of  the  R.  J.  Reynolds 
Co.,  in  all,  22,112  shares. 

The  Conely  Foil  Co.     Of  8,250  shares  of  stock  directly  owns  4,950  shares. 

The  American  Tobacco  Co.  By  stock  ownership  is  the  owner  outright  of 
the  following  defendant  companies:  S.  Anargyros  (the  S.  Anargyros  Co.  owns 
all  the  capital  stock,  10  shares,  of  the  London  Cigarette  Co.);  F.  F.  Adams 
Tobacco  Co.;  Blackwell's  Durham  Tobacco  Co.;  Crescent  Cigar  &  Tobacco  Co.; 
Day  &  Night  Tobacco  Co.;  Luhrman  &  Wilbern  Tobacco  Co.;  Nail  &  Williams 
Tobacco  Co.;  Nashville  Tobacco  Works;  R.  A.  Patterson  Tobacco  Co.;  Monopol 
Tobacco  Works;  Spalding  &  Merrick. 

The  American  Tobacco  Co.  also  has  the  stock  interest  indicated  in  the 
following  defendant  corporations: 

British-American  Tobacco  Co.  Owns  1,200,000  shares  of  1,500,000  shares 
of  preferred  stock  and  2,280,012  shares  of  3,720,021  shares  of  common  stock. 

The  Imperial  Tobacco  Co.,  etc.  Owns  721,457  pounds  sterling  of  18,000,000 
pounds  sterling  of  stock. 

The  John  Bollman  Co.      Of  2,000  shares  of  stock  owns  1,020   shares. 

F.  R.  Penn  Tobacco  Co.  Of  1,503  shares  of  stock  owns  1,002  shares 
(through  Blackwell's  Durham  Tobacco  Co.). 

R.  P.  Richardson,  Jr.,  &  Co.  (Inc.),  Owns  600  out  of  1,000  shares  of 
stock  and  $120,000  of  $203,000  issue  of  bonds. 

R.  J.  Reynolds  Tobacco  Co.      Owns  50,000  out  of  75,250   shares  of  stock. 

Pinkerton  Tobacco   Co.      Owns   775   out   of   1,000   shares  of  stock. 

Reynolds  Tobacco  Co.  (of  Bristol,  Tenn.).  Owns  1,449  shares  out  of  2,500 
shares. 

J.  W.  Carroll  Tobacco  Co.     Owns  2,003  out  of  3,000  shares. 

P.  Lorillard  Co.  Owns  15,813  out  of  20,000  shares  of  preferred  and  all 
the  common  stock  (30,000  shares). 

Kentucky  Tobacco  Product  Co.  Owns  14  of  1,900  shares  preferred  and 
owns  directly  5,264  and,  through  the  American  Cigar  Co.,  355  out  of  8,100 
shares  of  common  stock.  (The  Kentucky  Tobacco  Product  Co.  owns  all  the 
capital  stock,  100  shares,  of  the  Kentucky  Tobacco  Extract  Co.) 

Porto  Rican-American  Tobacco  Co.  Owns  directly  6,578  and,  through  the 
American  Cigar  Co.,  6,576  of  19,984  shares  of  stock.  (The  Porto  Rican- 
American  Tobacco  Co.  owns  190  of  the  380  shares  of  preferred  and  300  of  the 
450  shares  of  common  stock  of  Independent  Co.  of  Porto  Rico;  also  owns 
2,150  of  the  5,000  shares  >of  capital  stock  of  the  Porto  Rico  Leaf  Tobacco 
Co.) 

The  American  Tobacco  Co.  is  also  interested,  as  indicated,  in  the  following 
defendants,,  supply  or  machinery  companies : 

Golden  Belt  Manufacturing  Co.    (cotton  bags).     Owns  6,521  of  7,000  shares. 

Mengel  Box  Co.  (wooden  boxes).  British-American  Tobacco  Co.  owns 
3,637  of  5,000  shares  of  stock.  (The  M'engel  Co.  owns  all  of  the  capital 
stock  of  the  Columbia  Box  Co.  and  of  the  Tyler  Box  Co.,  respectively  1,500  and 
250  shares.) 

Amsterdam  Supply  Co.  (agency  to  purchase  supplies).  Owns  majority  stock 
and  controls  large  part  of  remainder  through  subsidiary  companies. 

Thomas  Cusack  Co.    (bill  posting).      Owns   1,000  out  of  1,500  shares. 

Manhattan  Briar   Pipe   Co.      Owns    all    of   stock,    3,500    shares. 

International  Cigar  Machinery  Co.  Of  100.300  shares  owns  33,637  shares 
directly  and  29,902  shares  through  American  Cigar  Co. :  in  all  63,539  shares 

The  American  Tobacco  Co.  is  also  interested  in  the  following  companies, 
not  named  as  defendants: 

American  Machine  &  Foundry  Co.  Owns  510  shares  directly  and  remainder 
(490)  through  American  Cigar  Co. 


560 

contracts  or  agreements  with  the  American  Tobacco  Company 
or  the  power  which  it  exerted  over  their  affairs  by  stock  owner- 
ship. 

As  we  shall  have  occasion  hereafter  in  referring  to  matters 
beyond  dispute  to  set  forth  the  main  facts  relied  upon  by  the 
United  States  as  giving  rise  to  the  cause  of  action  alleged 
against  all  of  the  defendants,  it  suffices  at  this  moment  to  say 
that  the  bill  averred  the  origin  and  nature  of  the  American 

New  Jersey  Machine  Co.  Owns  510  shares  directly  and  remainder  (490) 
through  American  Cigar  Co. 

Standard  Tobacco   Stemmer  Co.      Of   17,300  shares   owns   16,895   shares. 

Garson  Vending  Machine  Co.     Of  500  shares  owns  250  shares. 

The  American  Snuff  Co.,  in  addition  to  stock,  etc.,  interests  in  the  American 
Tobacco  Co.,  American  Cigar  Co.,  and  the  Amsterdam  Supply  Co.,  has  stock 
interests  in  the  following  defendants: 

H.  Bolander.     Owns  all  of  stock,   1,350  shares. 

De  Voe  Snuff  Co.  Owns  all  of  stock,  500  shares.  (The  De  Voe  Snuff  Co. 
owns  all  the  capital  stock,  400  shares  of  Skinner  &  Co.,  snuff.) 

Standard  Snuff  Co.     Owns  all  of  stock,  2,816  shares. 

The  American  Cigar  Co.,  in  addition  to  stock  interests  in  the  Amsterdam 
Supply  Co.,  American  Stogie  Co.,  Porto  Rican- American  Tobacco' Co.,  Kentucky 
Tobacco  Product  Co.,  and  International  Cigar  Machinery  Co.,  has  the  stock 
interest  indicated  in  the  following  defendants: 

R.  D.  Burnett  Cigar  Co.     Owns  77  out  of  150  shares. 

M.  Blaskower  Co.  Owns  1,875  out  of  2,500  shares  preferred  and  1,875  out 
of  2,503  shares  of  common. 

Cuban  Land  &  Leaf  Tobacco  Co.  Owns  all  of  stock,  1,000  shares.  (The 
Cuban  Land,  etc.,  Co.  owns  1,320  of  the  1,890  shares  of  stock  of  the  Vuelta 
Abajo  Steamship  Co.) 

Cliff  Weil  Cigar  Co.     Owns  255  out  of  500  shares. 

Dusel,  Goodlee  &  Co.     Owns  510  out  of  750  shares. 

Federal  Cigar  Real  Estate  Co.     Owns  all  stock,  6,000  shares. 

J.  J.  Goodrum  Tobacco  Co.     Owns  477  out  of  600  shares. 

Havana-American  Co.     Owns  all  stock,  2,500  shares. 

Havana  Tobacco  Co.  Owns  700  shares  out  of  47,038  preferred,  166,800 
out  of  297,912  common  stock,  and  $3,500,000  of  $7,500,000  bonds. 

Jordan  Gibson  &  Baum  Co.  (Inc.).  Owns  all  preferred  and  common  stock, 
250  shares  each. 

Louisiana  Tobacco   Co.    (Ltd.).      Owns   375   out   of   500   shares. 

The  J.  B.  Moos  Co.     Owns  all  of  stock,  2,000  shares. 

J.   &  B.  Moos.     Owns  all  of  common  stock,   1,030  shares. 

Porto  Rican  Leaf  Tobacco  Co.     Owns  2,500  out  of  5,000  shares. 

The  Smokers'  Paradise  Corporation.  Owns  all  of  common  stock,  250 
shares,  and  349  of  500  shares  preferred. 

Havana  Tobacco  Co.  has  a  stock  interest  in  the  following  corporations: 

H.   de  Cabanis   y  Carbajal.     All   of   stock,    15,000   shares. 

Hy.  Clay  and  Bock  &  Co.  (Ltd.).  Owns  9,749  out  of  16,950  shares  pre- 
ferred and  14,687  out  of  15,990  shares  common.  (The  Hy.  Clay,  etc.,  is  owner 
of  16,667  shares  of  the  ordinary  capital  stock  of  the  Havana  Cigar  &  Tobacco 
Factories  (Ltd.),  and  also  owns  64  shares  of  the  1,890  shares  of  the  capital 
stock  of  the  Vuelta  Abajo  Steamship  Co.) 

Cuban  Tobacco  Co.     Owns  all  of  stock,  50  shares. 

Havana  Commercial  Co.  Owns  55,562  out  of  60, '300  shares  preferred  and 
124,718  out  of  125,000  shares  common.  (The  Havana  Commercial  Co.  owns 
all  of  the  capital  stock,  100  shares  of  the  M.  Valley  Co.,  cigars.) 

Havana  Cigar  &  Tobacco  Factories  (Ltd.).  Owns  6,774  out  of  25,000 
shares  of  ordinary  stock. 

J.  S.  Murias  y  Co.     Owns  all  of  stock,   7,500  shares. 

Blackwell's  Durham  Tobacco  Co.  In  addition  to  a  stock  interest  in  the 
Amsterdam  Supply  Co.,  has  the  stock  interest  indicated  in  the  following  defend- 
ant corporations: 

F.  P.  Penn  Tobacco  Co.     Owns  1,002  out  of  1,503  shares. 

Scotten-Dillon  Co.     Owns  $10,000  out  of  $500,000  of  stock. 

Wells-Whitehead  Tobacco  Co.     Owns  all  of  stock,  1,500  shares. 

Conley  Foil  Co.  Owns  all  of  the  capital  stock,  3,000  shares,  of  the  Johnston 
Tin  Foil  &  Metal  Co. 

P.  Lorillard  Co.  Has  a  stock  interest  in  the  American  Snuff  Co.  and  the 
Amsterdam  Supply  Co. 

R.  J.  Reynolds  Tobacco  Co.  In  addition  to  a  stock  interest  in  the  Amster- 
dam Supply  Co.  and  the  MacAndrews  &  Forbes  Co.,  owns  one-third  of  the 
5,000  shares  of  stock  of  the  Lipfert  Scales  Co. 

The  British-American  Tobacco  Co.  In  addition  to  a  small  interest  in  the 
Amsterdam  Supply  Co.,  has  the  following  stock  interest  in  certain  defendants: 

David  Dunlop    (plug).     Owns  3,000  of  4,500  shares. 

W.  S.  Matthews  &  Sons  (smoking).  Owns  3,637  out  of  5,030  shares  of 
stock. 

T.   C.   Williams  Co.    (plug).   Owns   all   of  stock,   4,000   shares. 


561 

Tobacco  Company  and  the  origin  and  nature  of  all  the  other 
defendant  corporations,  whether  accessory  or  subsidiary,  and 
the  connection  of  the  individual  defendants  with  such  corpora- 
tions. In  effect  the  bill  charged  that  the  individual  defendants 
and  the  defendant  corporations  were  engaged  in  a  conspiracy 
in  restraint  of  interstate  and  foreign  trade  in  tobacco  and  the 
products  of  tobacco  and  constituted  a  combination  in  restraint 
of  such  trade  in  violation  of  the  first  section  of  the  act,  and  also 
were  attempting  to  monopolize  and  were  actually  a  monopoliza- 
tion of  such  trade  in  violation  of  the  second  section.  In  sup- 
port of  these  charges  general  averments  were  made  in  the  bill 
as  to  the  wrongful  purpose  and  intent  with  which  acts  were 
committed  which,  it  was  alleged,  brought  about  the  alleged 
wrongful  result. 

The  prayer  of  the  bill  was  as  follows: 

"Wherefore  petitioner  prays: 

"  1.  That  the  contracts,  combinations  and  conspiracies  in 
restraint  of  trade  and  commerce  among  the  States  and  with 
foreign  nations,  together  with  the  attempts  to  monopolize  and 
the  monopolies  of  the  same  hereinbefore  described,  be  declared 
illegal  and  in  violation  of  the  act  of  Congress  passed  July  2, 
1890,  and  subsequent  acts,  and  that  they  be  prevented  and 
restrained  by  proper  orders  of  the  court. 

"  2.  That  the  agreements,  contracts,  combinations  and  con- 
spiracies entered  into  by  the  defendants  on  or  about  September 
27,  1902,  and  thereafter,  and  evidenced  among  other  things 
by  the  two  written  agreements  of  that  date.  Exhibits  1  and  2 
hereto,  be  declared  illegal,  and  that  injunctions  issue  restrain- 
ing and  prohibiting  defendants  from  doing  anything  in  pursu- 
ance of  or  in  furtherance  of  the  same  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  United  States. 

"  3.  That  the  Imperial  Tobacco  Company,  its  officers,  agents 
and  servants,  be  enjoined  from  engaging  in  interstate  or  for- 
eign trade  and  commerce  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United 
States  until  it  shall  cease  to  observe  or  act  in  pursuance  of  said 
agreements,  contracts,  combinations  and  conspiracies  entered 
into  by  it  and  other  defendants  on  or  about  September  27, 
1902,  and  thereafter,  and  evidenced  among  other  things  by 
the  contracts  of  that  date,  Exhibits  1  and  2  hereto. 

"4.  That  the  British- American  Tobacco  Company  be  ad- 
judged an  unlawful  instrumentality  created  solely  for  carrying 
into  effect  the  objects  and  purposes  of  said  contract,  combina- 
tion and  conspiracy  entered  into  on  or  about  September  27, 
1902,  and  thereafter,  and  that  it  be  enjoined  from  engaging 
in  interstate  or  foreign  trade  and  commerce  within  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  United  States. 

"  5.  That  the  court  adjudge  the  American  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, the  American  Snuff  Company,  the  American  Cigar  Com- 
pany, the  American  Stogie  Company,  the  MacAndrews  &  Eorbes 
Company  and  the  Conley  Foil  Company  is  each  a  combination 
in  restraint  of  interstate  and  foreign  trade  and  commerce;  and 


562 

that  each  has  attempted  and  is  attempting  to  monopolize,  is 
in  combination  and  conspiracy  with  other  persons  and  corpora- 
tions to  monopolize  and  has  monopolized,  part  of  the  trade  and 
commerce  among  the  several  States  and  with  foreign  nations; 
and  order  and  decree  that  each  one  of  them  be  restrained  from 
engaging  in  interstate  or  foreign  commerce,  or,  if  the  court 
should  be  of  opinion  that  the  public  interests  will  be  better 
subserved  thereby,  that  receivers  be  appointed  to  take  posses- 
sion of  all  the  property,  assets,  business  and  affairs  of  said 
defendants  and  wind  up  the  same,  and  otherwise  take  such 
course  in  regard  thereto  as  will  bring  about  conditions  in  trade 
and  commerce  among  the  States  and  with  foreign  nations  in 
harmony  with  law. 

"  6.  That  the  holding  of  stock  by  one  of  the  defendant  cor- 
porations in  another  under  the  circumstances  shown  be  declared 
illegal  and  that  each  of  them  be  enjoined  from  continuing  to 
hold  or  own  such  shares  in  another  and  from  exercising  any 
right  in  connection  therewith. 

"  7.  That  defendants,  each  and  all,  be  enjoined  from  con- 
tinuing to  carry  out  the  purposes  of  the  above-described  con- 
tracts, combinations,  conspiracies  and  attempts  to  monopolize 
by  the  means  herein  described,  or  by  any  other,  and  be  required 
to  desist  and  withdraw  from  all  connection  with  the  same. 

"  8.  That  each  of  the  defendants  be  enjoined  from  purchasing 
leaf  tobacco  or  from  selling  and  distributing  its  manufactured 
output  as  a  part  of  interstate  and  foreign  trade  and  commerce 
in  conjunction  or  combination  with  any  other  defendant  and 
from  taking  part  or  being  interested  in  any  agreement  or  com- 
bination intended  to  destroy  competition  among  them  in  refer- 
ence to  such  purchases  or  sales. 

"  9.  That  petitioner  have  such  other,  further  and  general 
relief  as  may  be  proper." 

As  to  the  answers,  it  suffices  to  say  that  all  the  individual 
and  corporate  defendants  other  than  the  foreign  corporations 
denied  the  charges  of  wrongdoing  and  illegal  combination,  and 
the  corporate  defendants  in  particular  in  addition  averred  their 
right  under  State  charters  by  virtue  of  which  they  existed  to 
own  and  possess  the  property  which  they  held,  and  further 
averred  that  they  were  engaged  in  manufacturing,  and  that 
any  combination  amongst  them  related  only  to  that  subject,  and 
therefore  was  not  within  the  anti-trust  act.  The  two  foreign 
corporations  asserted  the  validity  of  their  corporate  organiza- 
tions and  of  the  assailed  agreements,  and  denied  any  participa- 
tion in  the  alleged  wrongful  combination. 

After  the  taking  of  much  testimony  before  a  special  exam- 
iner the  case  was  heard  before  a  court  consisting  of  four  judges, 
constituted  under  the  expediting  act  of  February  11,  1903.  In 
deciding  the  case  in  favor  of  the  government,  each  of  the  four 
judges  delivered  an  opinion.  (164  Fed.,  700.)  A  final  decree 
was  entered  on  December  15,  1908.  The  petition  was  dismissed 


563 

as  to  the  English  corporations,  three  of  the  subsidiary  corpora- 
tions, the  United  Cigar  Stores  Company  and  all  the  individual 
defendants.  It  was  decreed  that  the  defendants  other  than 
those  against  whom  the  petition  was  dismissed  had  theretofore 
entered  into  and  were  parties  to  combinations  in  restraint  of 
trade,  etc.,  in  violation  of  the  anti-trust  act,  and  said  defend- 
ants and  each  of  them,  their  officers,  agents,  etc.,  were  restrained 
and  enjoined  "  from  directly  or  indirectly  doing  any  act  or  thing 
whatsoever  in  furtherance  of  the  objects  and  purposes  of  said 
combinations,  and  from  continuing  as  parties  thereto/'  It  spe- 
cifically found  that  each  of  the  defendants,  "the  American 
Tobacco  Company,  American  Snuff  Company,  American  Cigar 
Company,  American  Stogie  Company  and  MacAndrews  & 
Forbes  Company,  constitutes  and  is  itself  a  combination  in 
violation  of  the  said  act  of  Congress."  The  corporations  thus 
named,  their  officers,  etc.,  were  next  restrained  and  enjoined 
"  from  further  directly  or  indirectly  engaging  in  interstate  or 
foreign  trade  and  commerce  in  leaf  tobacco,  or  the  products 
manufactured  therefrom,  or  articles  necessary  or  useful  in  con- 
nection therewith.  But  if  any  of  said  last-named  defendants 
can  hereafter  affirmatively  show  the  restoration  of  reasonably 
competitive  conditions,  such  defendant  may  apply  to  this  court 
for  a  modification,  suspension  or  dissolution  of  the  injunction 
herein  granted  against  it."  The  decree  then  enumerated  the 
various  corporations  which,  it  was  found,  held  or  claimed  to 
own  some  or  all  of  the  capital  stock  of  other  corporations,  and 
particularly  specified  such  other  corporations,  and  then  made 
the  following  restraining  provisions: 

"Wherefore  each  and  all  of  defendants,  the  American  To- 
bacco Company,  the  American  Snuff  Company,  the  American 
Cigar  Company,  P.  Lorillard  Company,  E.  J.  Reynolds  Tobacco 
Company,  BlackwelFs  Durham  To'bacco  Company  and  Conley 
Foil  Company,  their  officers,  directors,  agents,  servants  .and 
employees,  are  hereby  restrained  and  enjoined  from  acquiring, 
by  conveyance  or  otherwise,  the  plant  or  business  of  any  such 
corporation  wherein  any  one  of  them  now  holds  or  owns  stock; 
and  each  and  all  of  said  defendant  corporations  so  holding  stock 
in  other  corporations,  as  above  specified,  their  officers,  directors, 
agents,  servants  and  employees,  are  further  enjoined  from  vot- 
ing or  attempting  to  vote  said  stock  at  any  meeting  of  the 
stockholders  of  the  corporation  issuing  the  same  and  from 
exercising  or  attempting  to  exercise  any  control,  direction, 
supervision  or  influence  whatsoever  over  the  acts  and  doings 
of  such  corporation.  And  it  is  further  ordered  and  decreed 
that  each  and  every  of  the  defendant  corporations  the  stock  of 
which  is  held  by  any  other  defendant  corporation  as  herein- 
before shown,  their  officers,  directors,  servants  and  agents,  be 
and  they  are  hereby  respectively  and  collectively  restrained 
and  enjoined  from  permitting  the  stock  so  held  to  be  voted  by 
any  other  defendant  holding  or  claiming  to  own  the  same  or 


564 

by  its  attorneys  or  agents  at  any  corporate  election  for  directors 
or  officers  and  from  permitting  or  suffering  any  other  defendant 
corporation  claiming  to  own  or  hold  stock  therein,  or  its  officers 
or  agents,  to  exercise  any  control  whatsoever  over  its  corporate 
acts/' 

Judgment  for  costs  was  given  in  favor  of  the  petitioner  and 
against  the  defendants  as  to  whom  the  petition  had  not  been 
dismissed,  except  the  E.  P.  Richardson,  Jr.,  &  Co.,  a  corpora- 
tion, which  had  consented  to  the  decree.  The  decree  also  con- 
tained a  provision  that  the  defendants  or  any  of  them  should 
not  be  prevented  "  from  the  institution,  prosecution  or  defense 
of  any  suit,  action  or  proceeding  to  prevent  or  restrain  the 
infringement  of  a  trade-mark  used  in  interstate  commerce  or 
otherwise  assert  or  defend  a  claim  to  any  property  or  rights." 
In  the  event  of  a  taking  of  an  appeal  to  this  court,  the  decree 
provided  that  the  injunction  which  it  directed  "  shall  be  sus- 
pended during  the  pendency  of  such  appeal." 

The  United  States  appealed,  as  did  also  the  various  defend- 
ants against  whom  the  decree  was  entered.  For  the  government 
it  is  contended : 

1.  That  the  petition  should  not  have  been  dismissed  as  to 
the  individual  defendants. 

2.  That  it  should  not  have  been  dismissed  as  to  the  two  for- 
eign   corporations — the    Imperial    Tobacco    Company    and   the 
British-American  Tobacco  Company  and  the  domestic  corpora- 
tions controlled  by  the  latter — and  that,  on  the  contrary,  the 
decree  should  have  commanded  the  observance  of  the  anti-trust 
act  by  the  foreign  corporations  so  far  as  their  dealings  in  the 
United  States  were  concerned,  and  should  have  restrained  those 
companies  from  doing  any  act  in  the  United  States  in  violation 
of  the  anti-trust  act,  whether  or  not  the  right  to  do  said  acts 
was  asserted  to  have  arisen  pursuant  to  the  contracts  made  out- 
side of  or  within  the  United  States. 

3.  The  petition  should  not  have  been  dismissed  as  to  the 
United  Cigar  Stores  Company. 

4.  The  final  decree  should  have  adjudged  defendants  parties 
to  unlawful  contracts  and  conspiracies. 

5.  The  final  decree  should  have  adjudged  that  defendants 
were  attempting  to  monopolize  and  had  monopolized  parts  of 
commerce.      More    particularly,    it    is    urged,    it    should   have 
adjudged    that    the    American    Tobacco    Company,    American 
Snuff  Company,   American   Cigar  Company,  American  Stogie 
Company,   Mac  Andrews  &  Forbes   Company,  the  Conley  Foil 
Company   and   the   British-American   Tobacco   Company  were 
severally  attempting  to  monopolize  and  had  monopolized  parts 
of  commerce  and  that  appropriate  remedies  should  have  been 
applied. 

6.  The  decree  was  not  sufficiently  specific,  since  it  should 
have  described  with  more  particularity  the  methods  which  the 
defendants  had   followed  in   forming  and   carrying  out  their 


565 

unlawful  purpose,  and  should  have  prohibited  the  resort  to  sim- 
ilar methods. 

7.  The  decree  should  have  specified  the  shares  in  corpora- 
tions disclosed  by  the  evidence  to  be  owned  by  the  parties  to  the 
conspiracy,  and  should  have  enjoined  those  parties  from  exer- 
cising any  control  over  the  corporations  in  which  such  stock 
was  held,  and  the  latter,  if  made  defendant,  from  permitting 
such  control,  and  should  have  also  enjoined  the  collecting  of 
any  dividends  upon  the  stock. 

8.  The   decree   improperly   provided   that   nothing   therein 
should  prevent  defendants  from  prosecuting  or  defending  suits; 
also  improperly  suspended  the  injunction  pending  appeal. 

The  defendants,  by  their  assignments  of  errors,  complain 
because  the  petition  was  not  dismissed  as  to  all,  and  more  spe- 
cifically (a)  because  they  were  adjudged  parties  to  a  combina- 
tion in  restraint  of  interstate  and  foreign  commerce  and  en- 
joined accordingly;  (b)  because  certain  defendant  corporations 
holding  shares  in  others  were  enjoined  from  voting  them  or 
exercising  control  over  the  issuing  company,  and  the  latter  from 
permitting  this;  and  (c)  because  the  American  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, American  Snuff  Company,  American  Cigar  Company, 
American  Stogie  Company  and  the  MacAndrews  &  Forbes  Com- 
pany were  adjudged  unlawful  combinations  and  restrained  from 
engaging  in  interstate  and  foreign  commerce. 

The  elaborate  arguments  made  by  both  sides  at  bar  present 
in  many  forms  of  statement  the  conflicting  contentions  result- 
ing from  the  nature  and  character  of  the  suit  and  the  defense 
thereto,  the  decree  of  the  lower  court  and  the  propositions  as- 
signed as  error  to  which  we  have  just  referred.  In  so  far  as 
all  or  any  of  these  contentions,  as  many  of  them  in  fact  do, 
involve  a  conflict  as  to  the  application  and  effect  of  sections  1 
and  2  of  the  anti-trust  act,  their  consideration  has  been  greatly 
simplified  by  the  analysis  and  review  of  that  act  and  the  con- 
struction affixed  to  the  sections  in  question  in  the  case  of  Stand- 
ard Oil  Company  et  al.  vs.  United  States,  quite  recently  de- 
cided. In  so  far  as  the  contentions  relate  to  the  disputed  propo- 
sitions of  fact  we  think,  from  the  view  which  we  take  of  the 
case,  they  need  not  be  referred  to,  since  in  our  opinion  the  case 
can  be  disposed  of  by  considering  only  those  facts  which  are 
indisputable  and  by  applying  to  the  inferences  properly  de- 
ducible  from  such  facts  the  meaning  and  effect  of  the  law  as 
expounded  in  accordance  with  the  previous  decisions  of  this 
court. 

We  shall  divide  our  investigation  of  the  case  into  three  sub- 
jects: First,  the  undisputed  facts;  second,  the  meaning  of  the 
anti-trust  law  and  its  application  as  correctly  construed  to  the 
ultimate  conclusions  of  fact  deducible  from  the  proof;  third, 
the  remedies  to  be  applied. 


566 

UNDISPUTED  FACTS. 

The  matters  to  be  considered  under  this  heading,  we  think, 
can  best  be  made  clear  by  stating  the  merest  outline  of  the  con- 
dition of  the  tobacco  industry  prior  to  what  is  asserted  to  have 
been  the  initial  movement  in  the  combination  which  the  suit 
assails,  and  in  the  light  so  afforded  to  briefly  recite  the  history 
of  the  assailed  acts  and  contracts.  We  shall  divide  the  subject 
into  two  periods,  (a)  the  one  from  the  time  of  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  first  or  old  American  Tobacco  Company,  in  1890, 
to  the  organization  of  the  Continental  Tobacco  Company,  and 
(&)  from  the  date  of  such  organization  to  the  filing  of  the  bill 
in  this  case. 

Summarizing  in  the  broadest  way  the  conditions  which  ob- 
tained prior  to  1890,  as  to  the  production,  manufacture  and 
distribution  of  tobacco,  the  following  general  facts  are  adequate 
to  portray  the  situation: 

Tobacco  was  grown  in  many  sections  of  the  country  having 
diversity  of  soil  and  climate,  and  therefore  was  subject  to 
various  vicissitudes  resulting  from  the  places  of  production, 
and  consequently  varied  in  qtiality.  The  great  diversity  of  use 
to  which  tobacco  was  applied  in  manufacturing  caused  it  to 
be  that  there  was  a  demand  for  all  the  various  qualities.  The 
demand  for  all  qualities  was  not  local,  but  widespread,  extend- 
ing as  well  to  domestic  as  to  foreign  trade,  and  therefore  all 
the  products  were  marketed  under  competitive  conditions  of 
a  peculiarly  advantageous  nature.  The  manufacture  of  the 
product  in  this  country  in  various  forms  was  successfully  car- 
ried on  by  many  individuals  or  concerns  scattered  throughout 
the  country,  a  large  number,  perhaps,  of  the  manufacturers 
being  in  the  vicinage  of  production  and  others  being  advan- 
tageously situated  in  or  near  the  pricipal  markets  of  distribu- 
tion. 

Before  January,  1890,  five  distinct  concerns — Allen  &  Grin- 
ter,  with  factory  at  Eichmond,  Va. ;  W.  Duke,  Sons  &  Co.,  with 
factories  at  Durham,  N.  C.,  and  New  York  City;  Kinney  To- 
bacco Company,  with  factory  at  New  York  City;  W.  S.  Kim- 
ball  &  Co.,  with  factory  at  ^Rochester,  N.  Y. ;  Goodwin  &  Co., 
with  factory  at  Brooklyn,  N".  Y. — manufactured,  distributed 
and  sold  in  the  United  States  and  abroad  95  per  cent,  of  all 
the  domestic  cigarette'  and  less  than  8  per  cent,  of  the  smoking 
tobacco  produced  in  the  United  States.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  these  factories  were  competitors  in  the  purchase  of  the  raw 
product  which  they  manufactured  and  in  the  distribution  and 
sale  of  the  manufactured  products.  Indeed,  it  is  shown'  that 
prior  to  1890  not  only  had  normal  and  ordinary  competition 
existed  between  the  factories  in  question,  but  that  the  com- 
petition had  been  fierce  and  abnormal.  In  January,  1890, 
having  agreed  upon  a  capital  stock  of  $25,000,000,  all  to  be 
divided  amongst  them,  and  who  should  be  directors,  the  con- 


567 

cerns  referred  to  organized  the  American  Tobacco  Company 
in  New  Jersey  "  for  trading  and  manufacturing,"  with  broad 
powers,  and  conveyed  to  it  the  assets  and  businesses,  including 
good  will  and  right  to  use  the  names  of  the  old  concerns;  and 
thereafter  this  corporation  carried  on  the  business  of  all.  The 
$25,000,000  of  stock  of  the  tobacco  company  was  allotted  to  the 
charter  members  as  follows:  Allen  &  Ginter,  $3,000,000  pre- 
ferred, $4,500,000  common;  W.  Duke  Sons  &  Co.,  $3,000,000 
preferred,  $4,500,000  common;  Kinney  Tobacco  Company, 
$2,000,000  preferred,  $3,000,000  common;  W.  S.  Kimball  & 
Co.,  $1,000,000  preferred,  $1,500,000  common;  and  Goodwin 
&  Co.,  $1,000,000  preferred,  $1,500,000  common. 

There  is  a  charge  that  the  valuation  at  which  the  respective 
properties  were  capitalized  in  the  new  corporation  was  enorm- 
ously in  excess  of  their  actual  value.  We,  however,  put  that 
subject  aside,  since  we  propose  only  to  deal  with  the  facts  which 
are  not  in  controversy. 

Shortly  after  the  formation  of  the  new  corporation  the 
Goodwin  &  Co.  factory  was  closed,  and  the  directors  ordered 
"  that  the  manufacture  of  all  tobacco  cigarettes  be  concentrated 
at  Richmond/'  The  new  corporation,  in  1890,  the  first  year 
of  its  operation,  manufactured  about  2,500,000,000  cigarettes, 
that  is  about  96  or  97  per  cent,  of  the  total  domestic  output, 
and  about  5,500,000  pounds  of  smoking  tobacco  out  of  a  total 
domestic  product  of  nearly  70,000,000  pounds. 

In  a  little  over  a  year  after  the  organization  of  the  company 
it  increased  its  capital  stock  by  $10,000,000.  The  purpose  of 
this  increase  is  inferable  from  the  considerations  which  we  now 
state. 

There  was  a  firm  known  as  Pfingst,  Doerhoefer  &  Co.,  con- 
sisting of  a  number  of  partners,  who  had  been  long  and  suc- 
cessfully carrying  on  the  business  of  manufacturing  plug 
tobacco  in  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  distributing  it  through  the  chan- 
nels of  interstate  commerce.  In  January,  1891,  this  firm  was 
converted  into  a  corporation  known  as  the  National  Tobacco 
Works,  having  a  capital  stock  of  $400,000,  all  of  which  was 
issued  to  the  partners.  Almost  immediately  thereafter,  in  the 
month  of  February,  the  American  Tobacco  Company  became 
the  purchaser  of  all  the  capital  stock  of  the  new  corporation, 
paying  $600,000  cash  and  $1,200,000  in  stock  of  the  American 
Tobacco  Company.  The  members  of  the  previously  existing 
firm  bound  themselves  by  contract  with  the  American  Tobacco 
Company  to  enter  its  service  and  manage  the  business  and  prop- 
erty sold,  and  each  further  agreed  that  for  ten  years  he  would 
not  engage  in  carrying  on,  directly  or  indirectly,  or  permit  or 
suffer  the  use  of  his  name  in  connection  with  the  carrying  on 
of  the  tobacco  business  in  any  form. 

In  April  following  the  American  Tobacco  Company  bought 
out  the  business  of  Philip  Whitlock,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  who  was 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  cheroots  and  cigars,  and  with 


568 

the  exclusive  right  to  use  the  name  of  Whitlock.  The  considera- 
tion for  this  purchase  was  $300,000,  and  Whitlock  agreed  ^to 
become  an  employee  of  the  American  Tobacco  Company  for 
a  number  of  years  and  not  to  engage  for  twenty  years  in  the 
tobacco  business. 

In  the  month  of  April  the  American  Tobacco  Company  also 
acquired  the  business  of  Marburg  Bros.,  a  well-known  firm 
located  at  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  engaged  in  the  manufacture 
and  distribution  of  tobacco,  principally  smoking  and  snuff. 
The  consideration  was  a  cash  payment  of  $164,637.65,  and 
stock  to  the  amount  of  $3,075,000.  The  members  of  the  firm 
also  conveyed  the  right  to  the  use  of  the  firm  name  and  agreed 
not  to  engage  in  the  tobacco  business  for  a  lengthy  period. 

Again,  in  the  same  month,  the  American  Tobacco  Company 
bought  out  a  tobacco  firm  of  old  standing,  also  located  in  Balti- 
more, as  G.  W.  Gail  &  Ax,  engaged  principally  in  manufactur- 
ing and  selling  smoking  tobacco,  buying  with  the  business  the 
exclusive  right  to  use  the  name  of  the  firm  or  the  partners, 
and  the  members  of  the  firm  agreed  not  to  engage  in  the  tobacco 
business  for  a  specified  period.  The  consideration  for  this  pur- 
chase was  $77,582.66  in  cash  and  stock  to  the  amount  of 
$1,760,000.  The  plant  was  abandoned  soon  after. 

The  result  of  these  purchases  was  manifested  at  once  in  the 
product  of  the  company  for  the  year  1891,  as  will  appear  from 
a  note  in  the  margin.*  It  will  be  seen  that"  as  to  cheroots, 
smoking  tobacco,  fine-cut  tobacco,  snuff  and  plug  tobacco,  the 
company  had  become  a  factor  in  all  branches  of  the  tobacco 
industry. 

Referring  to  the  occurrences  of  the  year  1891  as  in  all 
respects  typical  of  the  occurrences  which  took  place  in  all  the 
other  years  of  the  first  period,  that  is,  during  the  years  189B, 
1893,  1894,  1895,  1896,  1897  and  1898,  we  content  ourselves 
with  saying  that  it  is  undisputed  that  between  February,  1891, 
and  October,  1898,  including  the  purchases  which  we  have 
specifically  referred  to,  the  American  Tobacco  Company  acquired 
fifteen  going  tobacco  concerns  doing  business  in  the  States  of 


*The  output  of  the  American  Tobacco  Co.  for  1891  was: 


Number.  Pounds. 


Cigarettes                  

2,788,778,000            

40  OJ9  000 

Smoking    

13,813,355 

Fine     cut  

560,633 

Snuff     

383,162 

Plug     

4,442,774 

Total  output  for  the  United  States.   1891: 

Cigarettes 

3137  318  596 

Smoking     

76,708,300 

Fine     cut  

16,968,870 

Plug    and    twist  , 

166,177,915 

Snuff     

10,674,241 

569 

Kentucky,  Louisiana,  Maryland,  Michigan,  Missouri,  New  York, 
North  Carolina  and  Virginia.  For  ten  of  the  plants  an  all- 
cash  consideration  of  $6,410,235.26  was  paid,  while  the  pay- 
ments for  the  remaining  five  aggregated  in  cash  $1,115,100.95 
and  in  stock  $4,123,000.  It  is  worth  noting  that  the  last  pur- 
chase, in  October,  1898,  was  of  the  Drummond  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, a  Missouri  corporation  dealing  principally  in  plug,  for 
which  a  cash  consideration  was  paid  of  $3,457,500. 

The  corporations  which  were  combined  for  the  purpose  of 
forming  the  American  Tobacco  Company  produced  a  very  small 
portion  of  plug  tobacco.  That  an  increase  in  this  direction 
was  contemplated  is  manifested  by  the  almost  immediate 
increase  of  the  stock  and  its  use  for  the  purpose  of  acquiring, 
as  we  have  indicated,  in  1891  and  1892,  the  ownership  and 
control  of  concerns  manufacturing  plug  tobacco  and  the  conse- 
quent increase  in  that  branch  of  production.  There  is  no  dispute 
that  as  early  as  1893  the  president  of  the  American  Tobacco 
Company,  by  authority  of  the  corporation,  approached  leading 
manufacturers  of  plug  tobacco  and  sought  to  bring  about  a 
combination  of  the  plug-tobacco  interests,  and  upon  the  failure 
to  accomplish  this  ruinous  competition  by  lowering  the  price 
of  plug  below  its  cost  ensued.  As  a  result  of  tTiis  warfare, 
which  continued  until  1898,  the  American  Tobacco  Company 
sustained  severe  losses  aggregating  more  than  $4,000,000.  The 
warfare  produced  its  natural  result,  not  only  because  the  com- 
pany acquired  during  the  last  two  years  of  the  campaign,  as 
we  have  stated,  control  of  important  plug-tobacco  concerns, 
but  others  engaged  in  that  industry  came  to  terms.  We  say 
this,  because  in  1898,  in  connection  with  several  leading  plug 
manufacturers,  the  American  Tobacco  Company  organized  a 
New  Jersey  corporation  styled  the  Continental  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, for  "trading  and  manufacturing,"  with  a  capital  of 
$75,000,000,  afterwards  increased  to  $100,000,000.  The  new 
company  issued  its  stock  and  took  transfers  to  the  plants,  assets 
and  businesses  of  five  large  and  successful  competing  plug 
manufacturers.  * 

The  American  Tobacco  Company  also  conveyed  to  this  cor- 
poration, at  large  valuations,  the  assets,  brands,  real  estate  and 
good  will  pertaining  to  its  plug-tobacco  business,  including  the 
National  Tobacco  Works,  the  James  G.  Butler  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, Drummond  Tobacco  Company  and  Brown  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, receiving  as  consideration  $30,274,200  of  stock  (one-half 
common  and  one-half  preferred),  $300,000  cash  and  an  addi- 

*P.  J.  Sorg  Co.,  having  factory  at  Middletown,  Ohio,  who  received  pre- 
ferred stock  $4,350,000,  common  stock  $4,525,000,  and  cash  $224,375. 

John  Finzer  &  Bros.,  having  factory  at  Louisville,  Ky.,  who  received  pre- 
ferred stock  $2,250,030,  common  stock  $3,050,000,  and  cash  $550,000. 

Daniel  Scotten  &  Co.,  having  factory  at  Detroit,  Mich.,  who  received  pre- 
ferred stock  $1,911.100  and  common  stock  $3,012,500. 

P,  H.  Mayo  &  Bros.,  having  factory  at  Richmond,  Va.,  who  received  pre- 
ferred stock  $1,250,000,  common  stock  $1,925,000,  and  cash  $66,125. 

John  Wright  Co.,  having  factory  at  Richmond,  Va.,  who  received  preferred 
stock  $495,000,  common  stock  $495,DOO,  and  cash  $4,116.67. 


570 

tional  sum  for  losses  sustained  in  the  plug  business  during 
1898,  $840,035.  Mr.  Duke,  the  president  of  the  American 
Tobacco  Company,  also  became  president  of  the  Continental 
Company. 

Under  the  preliminary  agreement  which  was  made,  looking 
to  the  formation  of  the  Continental  Tobacco  Company,  that 
company  acquired  from  the  holders  all  the  $3,000,000  of  the 
common  stock  of  the  P.  Lorillard  Company  in  exchange  for 
$6,000,000  of  its  stock,  and  $1,581,300  of  the  $2,000,000  pre- 
ferred in  exchange  for  notes,  aggregating  a  sum  considerably 
larger.  The  Lorillard  Company,  however,  although  it  thus 
passed  practically  under  the  control  of  the  American  Tobacco 
Company  by  virtue  of  its  ownership  of  stock  in  the  Continental 
Company,  was  not  liquidated,  but  its  business  continued  to  be 
conducted  as  a  distinct  corporation,  its  goods  being  marked  and 
put  upon  the  market  just  as  if  they  were  the  manufacture  of 
an  independent  concern. 

Following  the  organization  of  the  Continental  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, the  American  Tobacco  Company  increased  its  capital  stock 
from  $35,000,000  to  $70,000,000  and  declared  a  stock  dividend 
of  100  per  cent,  on  its  common  stock;  that  is,  a  stock  dividend 
of  $21,000,000. 

As  the  facts  just  stated  bring  us  to  the  end  of  the  first 
period  which  at  the  outset  wev  stated  it  was  our  purpose  to 
review,  it  is  well  briefly  to  point  out  the  increase  in  the  power 
and  control  of  the  American  Tobacco  Company  and  the  exten- 
sion of  its  activities  to  all  forms  of  tobacco  products  which  had 
been  accomplished  just  prior  to  the  organization  of  the  Conti- 
nental Tobacco  Company.  Nothing  could  show  it  more  clearly 
than  the  following:  At  the  end  of  the  time  the  company  was 
manufacturing  86  per  cent,  or  thereabouts  of  all  the  cigarettes 
produced  in  the  United  States,  above  26  per  cent,  of  all  the 
smoking  tobacco,  more  than  22  per  cent,  of  all  plug  tobacco, 
51  per  cent,  of  all  little  cigars,  6  per  cent,  each  of  all  snuff 
and  fine-cut  tobacco,  and  over  2  per  cent,  of  all  •  cigars  and 
cheroots. 

A  brief  reference  to  the  occurrences  of  the  second  period, 
that  is,  from  and  after  the  organization  of  the  Continental  To- 
bacco Company  up  to  the  time  of  the  bringing  of  this  suit, 
will  serve  to  make  evident  that  the  transactions  in  their  essence 
had  all  the  characteristics  of  the  occurrences  of  the  first  period. 

In  the  year  1899  and  thereafter  either  the  American  or 
Continental  Company,  for  cash  or  stock,  at  an  aggregate  cost 
of  $50,000,000,  bought  and  closed  up  some  thirty  competing 
corporations  and  partnerships  theretofore  engaged  in  interstate 
and  foreign  commerce  as  manufacturers,  sellers  and  distributors 
of  tobacco  and  related  commodities,  the  interested  parties  cove- 
nanting not  to  engage  in  the  business.  Likewise  the  two  cor- 
porations acquired  for  cash,  by  issuing  stock  and  otherwise, 
control  of  many  competing  corporations,  now  going  concerns, 


571 

with  plants  in  various  States,  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  which 
manufactured,  bought,  sold  and  distributed  tobacco  products 
or  related  articles  throughout  the  United  States  and  foreign 
countries,  and  took  from  the  parties  in  interest  covenants  not 
to  engage  in  the  tobacco  business. 

The  plants  thus  acquired  were  operated  until  the  merger 
in  1904,  to  which  we  shall  hereafter  refer,  as  a  part  of  the  gen- 
eral system  of  the  American  and  Continental  Companies.  The 
power  resulting  from  and  the  purpose  contemplated  in  making 
these  acquisitions  by  the  companies  just  referred  to,  however, 
may  not  be  measured  by  considering  alone  the  business  of  the 
company  directly  acquired,  since  some  of  those  companies  were 
made  the  vehicles  as  representing  the  American  or  Continental 
Company  for  acquiring  and  holding  the  stock  of  other  and 
competing  companies,  thus  amplifying  the  power  resulting  from 
the  acquisitions  directly  made  by  the  American  or  Continental 
Company,  without  ostensibly  doing  so.  It  is,  besides,  undis- 
puted that  in  many  instances  the  acquired  corporations,  with 
the  subsidiary  companies  over  which  they  had  control  through 
stock  ownership,  were  carried  on  ostensibly  as  independent  con- 
cerns disconnected  from  either  the  American  or  the  Continental 
Company,  although  they  were  controlled  and  owned  by  one  or 
the  other  of  these  companies.  Without  going  into  details  on 
these  subjects,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  we  append  in  the  margin 
a  statement  of  the  corporations  thus  acquired,  with  the  men- 
ti6n  of  the  competing  concerns  which  such  corporations 
acquired.* 

*  Monopol  Tobacco  Works  (New  York,  N.  Y.).  Capital,  $40,000;  cigarettes 
and  smoking  tobacco.  In  1899  the  American  Tobacco  Co.  acquired  all  the 
shares  for  $250,000,  and  it  is  now  a  selling  agency. 

Luhrman  &  Wilbern  Tobacco  Co.  (Middletown,  Ohio).  Capital,  $900,000; 
scrap  tobacco.  This  business  was  formerly  carried  on  by  a  partnership. 

Mengel  Box  Co.,  (Louisville,  Ky.).  Capital,  $2,000,000;  boxes  for  packing 
tobacco.  This  company  has  acquired  the  stock  ($150,000)  of  Columbia  Box 
Co.  and  of  Tyler  Box  Co.  ($25,000),  both  at  St.  Louis. 

The  Porto  Rican-American  Tobacco  Co.  (Porto  Rico).  Capital,  $1,799,600. 
In  1899  the  American  Oo.  caused  the  organization  of  the  Porto  Rican-American 
Tobacco  Co.,  which  took  over  the  partnership  business  of  Rucaban  y  Portela, 
manufacturer  of  cigars  and  cigarettes,  with  covenants  not  to  compete.  The 
American  Tobacco  Co.  and  American  Cigar  Co.  each  hold  $585,300  of  the  stock; 
the  balance  is  in  the  hands  of  individuals. 

Kentucky  Tobacco  Product  Co.  (Louisville,  Ky.)  Capital,  $1,000,000.  In 
1899  the  Continental  Co.  acquired  control  of  the  Louisville  Spirit-Cured  Tobacco 
Co.,  engaged  in  curing  and  treating  tobacco  and  utilizing  the  stems  for  fer- 
tilizers. By  agreement  the  Kentucky  Tobacco  Product  Co.  was  organized  in 
New  Jersey,  with  $1,000,000  capital,  $450,000  issued  to  the  old  stockholders 
and  $550,000  to  Continental  Co.,  as  consideration  for  agreement  to  supply 
stems. 

Golden  Belt  Manufacturing  Co.  (North  Carolina).  Capital,  $700,000;  cotten 
bags  and  containers.  In  1899  the  American  Tobacco  Co.  acquired  the  business 
of  this  corporation,  which  was  formed  to  take  over  a  going  business. 

The  Conley  Foil  Co.  (New  York).  Capital,  $825,000;  tin-foil  combination. 
In  December,  1899,  the  American  Tobacco  Co.,  secured  control  of  the  business 
of  John  Conley  &  Son  (partnership),  New  York,  N.  Y.,  manufacturers  of  tin 
foil,  an  essential  for  packing  tobacco  products.  By  agreement  the  Conley  Foil 
Co.  was  incorporated  in  New  Jersey  "  for  trading  and  manufacturing,"  etc., 
with  $250,000  capital  (afterwards  $375,000  and  $825,000),  which  took  over 
the  firm's  business  and  assets,  etc.,  and  the  American  Tobacco  p Co.  became 
owner  of  the  majority  shares.  The  Conley  Foil  Co.  has  acquired  all  the 
stock  of  the  Johnson  Tinfoil  &  Metal  Co. — a  defendant^— of  St.  Louis,  a  leading 
competitor,  and  they  supply  under  contracts  the  tin  foil  used  by  defendants. 

R.  J.  Reynolds  Tobacco  Co.  (Winston  Salem,  N.  C.).  In  1899  the  Conti- 
nental Tobacco  Co.  acquired  control  of  the  R.  J.  Reynolds  Tobacco  Co.,  one 


572 

It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  observe  that  me  acquisi- 
tions made  by  the  subsidiary  corporations  in  some  cases  like- 
wise show  the  remarkable  fact  stated  above;  that  is,  the  dis- 
bursement of  enormous  amounts  of  money  to  acquire  plants 
which,  on  being  purchased,  were  not  utilized  but  were  imme- 
diately closed.  It  is  also  to  be  remarked  that  the  facts  stated 
in  the  memorandum  in  the  margin  show  on  their  face  a  sin- 
gular identity  between  the  conceptions  which  governed  the 
transactions  of  this  latter  period  with  those  which  evidently 
existed  at  the  very  birth  of  the  original  organization  of  the 
American  Tobacco  Company,  as  exemplified  by  the  transactions 
in  the  first  period.  A  statement  of  particular  transactions  out- 
side of  those  previously  referred  to  as  having  occurred  during 
the  period  in  question  will  serve  additionally  to  make  the  situa- 
tion clear.  And  to  accomplish  this  purpose  we  shall,  as  briefly 
as  may  be  consistent  with  clarity,  separately  refer  to  the  facts 
concerning  the  organization  during  the  second  period  of  the 
five  corporations  which  were  named  as  defendants  in  the  bill, 
as  heretofore  stated,  and  which  for  the  purpose  of  designation 
we  have  hitherto  classified  as  accessory  defendants,  such  cor- 
porations being  the  American  Snuff  Company,  American  Cigar 
Company,  Mac  Andrew  &  Forbes  Company  (licorice)  and  Conley 
Foil  Company. 

of  the  largest  manufacturers  of  plug — output  in  1898,  6,000,000  pounds.  By 
agreement  a  new  corporation  (with  same  name)  was  organized  in  New  Jersey 
and  capitalized  at  $5,000,000  (afterwards  $7,525,000),  which  took  over  the 
business  and  assets  of  the  old  one.  The  Continental  Co.  immediately  acquired 
the  majority  shares  and  the  American  Co.  now  holds  $5,000,000  of  stock.  The 
separate  organization  has  been  preserved. 

There  was  acquired  in  the  name  of  the  new  Reynolds  Co.,  with  covenants 
against  competition,  the  following  plants: 

In  1900,  T.  L.  Vaughn  &  Co.,  partnership,  of  Winston,  N.  C. ;  consideration, 
$90,506;  Brown  Bros.  Co.,  a  North  Carolina  corporation,  Winston,  N.  C. ;  con- 
sideration, $67,615;  and  P.  H.  Hanes  &  Co.  and  B.  F.  Hanes  &  Co,,  Winston, 
N.  C.,  partnership;  consideration,  $671,950. 

In  1905,  Rucker  &  Witten  Tobacco  Co.,  Martinsville,  Va. ;  consideration, 
$512,898. 

In    1906,   D.   H.    Spencer   Co.,    Martinsville,   Va. ;    consideration,    $314,255. 

(All   of   the  foregoing  plants  were  closed  as  soon   as  purchased.) 

A  majority  of  the  $400,000  capital  stock  of  plug  tobacco  and  interstate  and 
foreign  commerce  in  leaf  tobacco  and  its  products  was  acquired  by  the 
Reynolds  Co.  The  separate  organization  of  the  Lipfert-Scales  Co.  is  preserved 
and  the  business  carried  on  under  its  corporate  name. 

The  R.  J.  Reynolds  Tobacco  Co.  also  holds  $98,300  stock  of  the  Mac- 
Andrews  &  Forbes  Co.  and  $9,600  of  the  Amsterdam  Supply  Co. 

Blackwell's  Durham  Tobacco  Co.  (Durham,  N.  C.).  Capital.  $1,000,000. 
In  1899  the  American  Tobacco  Co.  procured  for  $4,000,000  all  the  stock  of 
Blackwell's  Durham  Tobacco  Co.  at  Durham,  N.  C.,  manufacturer  and  dis- 
tributor of  tobacco  products.  Thereupon  the  Blackwell's  Durham  Tobacco  Co. 
of  New  Jersey,  capital,  1,000,'000,  all  owned  by  the  American,  was  organized 
and  took  over  the  assets  of  the  old  company,  then  under  receivership.  Its 
separate  organization  has  been  preserved. 

The  Durham  Co.  has  acquired  control  of  the  following  compeitors:  Rey- 
nold's Tobacco  Co.,  F.  R.  Penn  Tobacco  Co.,  and  Wells-Whitehead  Tobacco  Co. 

The  following  companies  came  also  under  the  control  of  the  American 
Tobacco  Co.  through  acquired  stock  ownership: 

S.  Anargyros.  Capital,  $650,000;  Turkish  cigarettes.  In  1890  the  Amer- 
ican Tobacco  Co.  procured  the  organization  of  corporation  of  S.  Anargyros, 
which  took  over  that  individual's  going  business  and  has  since  controlled  it. 
Through  this  company  the  business  in  Turkish  cigarettes  is  largely  con- 
ducted 

The  John  Bollman  Co.  (San  Francisco).  Capital,  $200,000;  cigarettes. 
In  1900  the  American  Tobacco  Co.  procured  organization  of  the  John  Bollman 
Co.,  which  took  over  the  business  of  the  former  concern  in  exchange  for  stock. 
Its  separate  organization  has  been  preserved. 


573 

(1)  The  American  Snuff  Company. — As  we  have  seen,  the 
American  Tobacco  Company  at  the  commencement  of  the  first 
period  produced  a  very  small  quantity  of  snuff.  Its  capacity, 
however,  in  that  regard  was  augmented  owing  particularly  to 
the  formation  of  the  Continental  Tobacco  Company  and  the 
acquisition  of  the  Lorillard  Company,  by  which  it  came  to  be 
a  serious  factor  as  a  snuff  producer.  There  shortly  ensued  an 
aggressive  competition  in  the  snuff  business  between  the  Amer- 
iqan  Tobacco  Company,  with  the  force  acquired  from  the  van- 
tage ground  resulting  from  the  dominancy  of  its  expanded 
organization,  and  others  in  the  trade  operating  independently 
of  that  organization.  The  result  was  identical  with  that  which 
had  previously  arisen  from  like  conditions  in  the  past. 

In  March,  1900,  there  was  organized  in  New  Jersey  a 
corporation  known  as  the  American  Snuff  Company, .  with  a 
capital  of  $25,000,000,  one-half  preferred  and  one-half  com- 
mon, which  took  over  the  snuff  business  of  the  P.  Lorillard 
Company,  Continental  Tobacco  Company  and  the  American 
Tobacco  Company,  with  that  of  a  large  competitor,  viz.,  the 
Atlantic  Snuff  Company.  The  stock  of  the  new  company  was 
thus  apportioned:  Atlantic  Snuff  Company,  $7,500,000  pre- 
ferred, $25,000,000  common ;  P.  Lorillard  Company,  $1,124,700 
preferred,  $3,459,000  common;  the  American  Tobacco  Com- 
pany $1,177,800  preferred,  $3,227,500  common;  Continental 
Tobacco  Company  $197,500  preferred,  $813,100  common.  The 
stock  issued  to  Continental  Tobacco  Company  and  the  defend- 
ants, P.  Lorillard  Company  and  the  American  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, is  still  held  by  the  latter,  and  they  have  at  all  times  had 
a  controlling  interest  in  the  snuff  company.  All  the  companies, 
together  with  their  officers  and  directors,  covenanted  that  they 
would  not  thereafter  engage  as  competitors  in  the  tobacco  busi- 
ness or  the  manufacture,  sale  or  distribution  of  snuff. 

Among  the  assets  transferred  by  the  Atlantic  Snuff  Com- 
pany to  American  Snuff  Company  were  all  the  shares  ($600,000) 
of  W.  E.  Garrett  &  Sons  (Inc.),  then  and  now  one  of  the  oldest 
and  very  largest  producers  of  snuff,  for  a  long  time  and  still 
engaged  at  Yorkland,  Del.,  in  interstate  and  foreign  commerce 
in  tobacco  and  its  products,  and  which  controlled  through  stock 
ownership  the  Southern  Snuff  Company,  Memphis,  Tenn. : 
Dental  Snuff  Company,  Lynchburg,  Va.,  and  Stewart-Ealph 
Snuff  Company,  Clarksville,  Tenn.  The  separate  existence  of 
W.  E.  Garrett  &  Sons  (Inc.)  has  been  preserved  and  its  busi- 
ness conducted  under  the  corporate  name.  In  March,  1900, 
the  American  Snuff  Company  acquired  all  the  shares  of  George 
W.  Helme  Company,  one  of  the  oldest  and  largest  producers 
of  snuff  and  actively  engaged  at  Helmetta,  1ST.  J.,  in  interstate 
and  foreign  commerce  in  competition  with  defendants,  by  issu- 
ing in  exchange  therefor  $2,000,000  preferred  stock  and 
$1,000,000  common;  and  it  thereafter  took  a  conveyance  of  all 


574 

assets  of  the  acquired  company  and  now  operates  the  plant 
under  its  own  name. 

As  a  result  of  the  transactions  just  stated,  it  came  to  pass 
that  the  American  Tobacco  Company,  which  had  at  the  end  of 
the  first  period  only  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  snuff  manu- 
facturing business,  came  virtually  to  have  the  dominant  control 
as  a  manufacturer  of  that  product. 

(2)  Conley    Foil   Company,   manufacturers   of   tinfoil,  an 
essential  for  packing  tobacco  products. — In  December,  1899,  the 
American  Tobacco  Company  secured  control  of  the  business  of 
John  Conley  &  Sons,  a  partnership,  of  New  York  City.     By 
agreement  the  Conley  Foil  Company  was  incorporated  in  New 
York  "for  trading  and  manufacturing,"  etc.,  with  $250,000 
capital,  ultimately  increased  to  $825,000.    The  corporation  took 
over  the  business  and  assets  of  the  firm,  and  the  American  To- 
bacco Company  became  owner  of  a  majority  of  the  shares  of 
stock.     The  Conley  Foil  Company  has  acquired  all  the  shares 
of  stock  of  the  Johnson  Tinfoil  &  Metal  Company,  of  St.  Louis, 
a  leading  competitor,  and  they  supply,  under  fixed  contracts  at 
remunerative  prices,  the  tinfoil  used  by  the  defendants,  which 
constitutes  the  major  part  of  the  total  production  in  the  United 
States. 

(3)  American  Cigar  Company. — Prior  to  1901  the  Ameri- 
can and   Continental   Tobacco   Companies  manufactured,   sold 
and  distributed  cigars,  stogies  and  cheroots.     In  the  year  stated 
the  companies  determined  to  engage  in  the  business  upon  a 
larger  scale.    Under  agreement  with  Powell,  Smith  &  Co.,  large 
manufacturers  and  dealers  in  cigars,  they  caused  the  incorpora- 
tion in  New  Jersey  of  the  American  Cigar  Company  "  for  trad- 
ing and  manufacturing,"  etc.,  to  which  all  three  conveyed  their 
said   business,    and   it   has   since   carried   on   the   same.     The 
American  and  Continental  Companies  each  acquired  46J  per 
cent,   of  the   shares,   and   Powell,    Smith   &   Co.    7   per  cent; 
the     original     capitalization     was     $10,000,000      (afterwards 
$20,000,000),   and  more  than  three-fourths  is  owned  by  the 
former.     The  cigar  company  acquired  many  competitors  (part- 
nerships and  corporations)   engaged  in*  interstate  and  foreign 
commerce,  taking  from  the  parties  covenants  against  engaging 
in  the  tobacco  business;  and  it  has  also  procured  the  organiza- 
tion of  controlled  corporations  which  have  acquired  competing 
manufacturers,  jobbers  and  distributors  in  the  United  States, 
Cuba  and  Porto  Eico.     It  manufactures,  sells  and  distributes 
a  considerable  percentage  of  domestic  cigars;  is  the  dominating 
factor  in  the  tobacco  business,  foreign  and  domestic,  in  Cuba 
and  Porto  Eico,  and  is  there  engaged  in  tobacco  planting.     It 
also   controls   corporate   jobbers   in    California,   Alabama,   Vir- 
ginia, Pennsylvania,  Georgia,  Louisiana,  New  Jersey  and  Ten- 
nessee. 

(4)  The  MacAndrews  d  Forbes  Company,   manufacturers 
of  licorice. — There  is  no  question  that  licorice  paste  is  an  essen- 


575 

tial  ingredient  in  the  manufacture  of  plug  tobacco,  and  that  one 
who  is  debarred  from  obtaining  such  paste  would  therefore  be 
unable  to  engage  in  or  carry  on  the  manufacture  of  such  prod- 
uct. The  control  over  this  article  was  thus  secured:  In  May, 
1902,  the  Continental  Company  secured  control  of  Mac  Andrews 
&  Forbes  Company,  of  Newark,  N.  J.,  and  organized  "  for  trad- 
ing and  manufacturing"  a  corporation  known  as  the  MacAn- 
drews  &  Forbes  Company, with  a  capital  of  $7,000,000,  $4,000,000 
preferred  and  $3,000,000  common,  which  took  over  the  business 
of  MacAndrews  &  Forbes  and  another  large  competitor.  The 
Continental  Company  acquired  two-thirds  of  the  common  stock 
by  agreeing  to  purchase  its  supply  of  paste  from  the  new  com- 
pany. The  American  Tobacco  Company  at  the  time  of  the 
filing  of  the  bill,  was  the  owner  of  $2,112,900  of  the  common 
stock  and  $750,000  preferred.  By  various  purchases  and  agree- 
ments the  MacAndrews  &  Forbes  Company  acquired,  substan- 
tially, the  business  of  all  competitors.  Thus,  in  June,  1902, 
it  purchased  the  business  of  the  Stamford  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, of  Stamford,  Conn.,  and  incorporated  the  National 
Licorice  Company,  which  acquired  the  business  of  Young  & 
Smylie  and  F.  B.  &  V.  P.  Scudder,  and  the  National  Company 
agreed  with  MacAndrews  &  Forbes  not  to  produce  licorice  for 
tobacco  manufacturers.  In  1906  all  the  stock  in  the  J.  S.  Young 
Company — $1,800,000 — which  had  been  organized  to  take  over 
the  business  of  the  J.  S.  Young  Company,  of  Baltimore,  Md., 
was  acquired  by  the  MacAndrews  &  Forbes  Company.  The 
MacAndrews  &  Forbes  Company  use  in  excess  of  95  per  cent, 
of  the  licorice  root  consumed  in  the  United  States. 

(5)  American  Stogie  Company. — In  May,  1903,  the  Amer- 
ican Cigar  Company  and  the  American  and  Continental  Tobacco 
Companies  caused  the  American  Stogie  Company  to  be  incor- 
porated in  New  Jersey  with  $11,979,000  capital,  which  imme- 
diately took  over  the  stogie  and  tobie  business  of  the  companies 
named  in  exchange  for  $8,206,275  stock,  and  then  in  the  usual 
ways  acquired  the  business  of  others  in  the  manufacture,  sale 
and  distribution  of  such  products,  with  covenants  not  to  com- 
pete. It  acquired,  in  exchange  for  $3,647,725  stock,  all  shares 
of  United  States  Cigar  Company  (which  had  previously 
acquired  and  owned  the  business  of  important  competitors)  and 
subsequently  took  the  conveyance  of  the  plant  and  assets.  The 
majority  shares  always  have  been  held  by  defendant,  the 
American  Cigar  Company. 

As  we  think  the  legitimate  inferences  deducible  from  the 
undisputed  facts  which  we  have  thus  stated  will  be  sufficient 
to  dispose  of  the  controversy,  we  do  not  deem  it  necessary  to 
expand  this  statement  so  as  to  cause  it  to  embrace  a  recital  of 
the  undisputed  facts  concerning  the  entry  of  the  American 
Tobacco  Company  into  the  retail  tobacco  trade  through  the 
acquisition  of  a  controlling  interest  in  the  stock  of  what  is 
known  as  the  United  Cigar  Stores  Company,  as  well  as  to  some 


576 

other  subjects  which,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  we  likewise  pass 
over  in  order  to  come  at  once  to  a  statement  concerning  the 
foreign  companies. 

The  English  companies. — In  September,  1901,  the  American 
Tobacco  Company  purchased  for  $5,347,000  a  Liverpool  (Eng- 
land) corporation,  known  as  Ogden's  Limited,  there  engaged 
in  manufacturing  and  distributing  tobacco  products.  A  trade 
conflict,  which  at  once  ensued,  caused  many  of  the  English 
manufacturers  to  combine  into  an  incorporation  known  as  the 
Imperial  Tobacco  Company  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  capital 
£15,000,000,  afterwards  increased  to  £18,000,000,  sterling.  The 
trade  war  was  continued  between  this  corporation  and  the 
American  Tobacco  Company  with  a  result  substantially  iden- 
tical with  that  which  had  hitherto,  as  we  have  seen,  arisen  from 
such  a  situation. 

In  September,  1902,  the  Imperial  and  the  American  com- 
panies entered  into  contracts  (executed  in  England),  stipulat- 
ing that  the  former  should  limit  its  business  to  the  United 
Kingdom,  except  purchasing  leaf  in  the  United  States  (it  buys 
54,000,000  pounds  annually)  ;  that  the  American  companies 
should  limit  their  business  to  the  United  States,  its  dependen- 
cies and  Cuba;  and  that  the  British- American  Tobacco  Com- 
pany, with  a  capital  of  £6,000,000  apportioned  between  them, 
should  be  organized,  take  over  the  export  business  of  both,  and 
operate  in  other  countries,  etc.  This  arrangement  was  imme- 
diately put  into  effect  and  has  been  observed. 

The  Imperial  Company  holds  one-third  and  the  American 
Company  two-thirds  of  the  capital  stock  of  the  British- American 
Tobacco  Company  (Ltd.).  The  latter  company  maintains  a 
branch  office  in  New  York  City,  and  the  vice-president  of  the 
American  Tobacco  Company  is  a  principal  officer.  This  com- 
pany uses  large  quantities  of  domestic  leaf,  partly  exported  to 
various  plants  abroad  and  about  half  manufactured  here  and 
then  exported.  By  agreement  all  this  is  purchased  through 
the  American  Tobacco  Company.  In  addition  to  many  plants 
abroad,  it  has  warehouses  in  various  States  and  plants  at  Peters- 
burg, Va.,  and  Durham,  N.  C.,  where  tobacco  is  manufactured 
and  then  exported. 

The  purchase  of  necessary  leaf  tobacco  in  the  United  States 
by  the  Imperial  Company  is  now  made  through  a  resident  gen- 
eral agent  and  is  exported  as  a  part  of  foreign 'commerce. 

Not  to  break  the  continuity  of  the  narrative  of  facts,  we 
have  omitted  in  the  proper  chronological  order  to  state  the  facts 
relative  to  what  was  known  as  the  Consolidated  Tobacco  Com- 
pany. We  now  particularly  refer  to  that  subject. 

The  Consolidated  Tobacco  Company. — In  June,  1901,  parties 
largely  interested  in  the  American  and  Continental  Companies 
caused  the  incorporation  in  New  Jersey  of  the  Consolidated 
Tobacco  Company,  capital  $30,00,000  (afterwards  $40,000,000), 
with  broad  powers  and  perpetual  existence;  to  do  business 


577 

throughout  the  world,  and  to  guarantee  securities  of  other  com- 
panies, etc.  A  majority  of  shares  was  taken  by  a  few  individuals 
connected  with  the  old  concerns:  A.  N.  Brady,  J.  B.  Duke,  A. 
H.  Payne,  Thomas  Eyan,  W.  C.  Whitney  and  P.  A.  B.  Widener. 
,r.  B.  Duke,  president  of  both  the  old  companies,  became  presi- 
dent of  the  Consolidated.  Largely  in  exchange  for  bonds  the 
new  company  acquired  substantially  all  the  shares  of  common 
stock  of  the  old  ones.  Its  business  of  holding  and  financing 
was  continued  until  1904,  when,  with  the  American  and  Conti- 
nental Companies,  it  was  merged  in  to  the  present  American 
Tobacco  Company. 

By  proceedings  in  New  Jersey,  October,  1904,  the  (old) 
American  Tobacco  Company,  Continental  Tobacco  Company  and 
Consolidated  Tobacco  Company  were  merged  into  one  corpora- 
tion, under  the  name  of  the  American  Tobacco  Company,  the 
principal  defendant  here.  The  merged  company,  with  perpetual 
existence,  was  capitalized  at  $180,000,000  ($80,000,000  pre- 
ferred ordinarily  without  power  to  vote). 

The  powers  conferred  by  the  charter  are  stated  in  the 
margin.* 

Prior  to  the  merger  the  Consolidated  Tobacco  Company,  a 
majority  of  whose  $40,000,000  share  capital  was  held  hy  J.  B. 
Duke,  Thomas  F.  Eyan,  William  C.  Whitney,  Anthony  K 
Brady,  Peter  A.  B.  Widener  and  Oliver  H.  Payne,  had  acquired, 
as  already  stated,  nearly  all  common  shares  of  both  old  Amer- 
ican and  Continental  Companies,  and  thereby  control.  The 
preferred  shares,  however,  were  held  by  many  individuals. 
Through  the  method  of  distribution  of  the  stock  of  the  new 
company,  in  exchange  for  shares  in  the  old  American  and  in 
the  Continental  Companies,  it  resulted  that  the  same  six  men 
in  control  of  the  combination  through  the  Consolidated  Tobacco 
Company  continued  that  control  by  ownership  of  stock  in  the 
merged  or  new  American  Tobacco  Company.  The  assets,  prop- 
erty, etc.,  of  the  old  companies  passed  to  the  American  To- 
bacco Company  (merged),  which  has  since  carried  on  the 
business. 

The  record  indisputably  discloses  that  after  this  merger 
the  same  methods  which  were  used  from  the  beginning  con- 
tinued to  be  employed.  Thus  it  is  beyond  dispute:  First,  that 
since  the  organization  of  the  new  American  Tobacco  Company 
that  company  has  acquired  four  large  tobacco  concerns;  that 


*To   buy,   manufacture,   sell   and  otherwise  deal   in   tobacco   and  the  products 
of    tobacco    in    any    and    all    forms;  to    guarantee    dividends    on    any 

shares  of  the  capital  stock  of  any  corporation  in  which  said  merged  corpora- 
tion has  an  interest  as  stockholders:  to  carry  on  any  business 
operations  deemed  by  such  merged  corporation  to  be  necessary  or  advisable 
in  connection  with  any  of  the  objects  of  its  incorporation  or  in  furtherance  of 
any  thereof,  or  tending  to  increase  the  value  of  its  property  or  stock;  *  *  * 
to  conduct  business  in  all  other  States,  Territories,  possessions,  and  depend- 
encies of  the  United  States  of  America,  and  in  all  foreign  countries; 
to  purchase  or  otherwise  acauire  and  hold,  sell,  assign,  transfer,  mortgage, 
pledge,  or  otherwise  dispose  of  the  shares  of  the  capital  stock  or  of  any  bonds, 
securities,  or  other  evidences  of  indebtedness  created  by  any  other  corpora- 
tion or  corporations  of  this  or  any  other  State  or  Government,  and  to  issue 
its  own  obligations  in  payment  or  exchange  therefor  *  *  *. 


578 

restrictive  covenants  against  engaging  in  the  tobacco  business 
were  taken  from  the  sellers,  and  that  the  plants  were  not  con- 
tinued in  operation,  but  were  at  once  abandoned.  Second,  that 
the  new  company  has,  besides,  acquired  control  of  eight  addi- 
tional concerns,  the  business  of  such  concerns  being  now  car- 
ried on  by  four  separate  corporations,  all  absolutely  controlled 
by  the  American  Tobacco  Company,  although  the  connection 
as  to  two  of  these  companies  with  that  corporation  was  long 
and  persistently  denied. 

Thus,  reaching  the  end  of  the  second  period  and  coming 
to  the  time  of  the  bringing  of  the  suit,  brevity  prevents  us  from 
stopping  to  portray  the  difference  between  the  condition  in 
1890  when  the  (old)  American  Tobacco  Company  was  organ- 
ized by  the  consolidation  of  five  competing  cigarette  concerns 
and  that  which  existed  at  the  commencement  of  the  suit.  That 
situation  and  the  vast  power  which  the  principal  and  accessory 
corporate  defendants  and  the  small  number  of  individuals  who 
own  a  majority  of  the  common  stock  of  the  new  American  To- 
bacco Company  exert  over  the  marketing  of  tobacco  as  a  raw 
product,  its  manufacture,  its  marketing  when  manufactured, 
and  its  consequent  movement  in  the  channels  of  interstate  com- 
merce, indeed  relatively  over  foreign  commerce,  and  the  com- 
merce of  the  whole  world  in  the  raw  and  manufactured  prod- 
ucts, stand  out  in  such  bold  relief  from  the  undisputed  facts 
which  have  been  stated  as  to  lead  us  to  pass  at  once  to  the 
second  fundamental  proposition  which  we  are  required  to  con- 
sider— that  is,  the  construction  of  the  anti-trust  act  and  the 
application  of  the  act  as  rightly  construed  to  the  situation  as 
proven  in  consequence  of  having  determined  the  ultimate  and 
final  inferences  properly  deducible  from  the  undisputed  facts 
which  we  have  stated. 

THE  CONSTRUCTION  AND  APPLICATION  OF  THE  ANTI-TRUST 

ACT. 

If  the  anti-trust  law  is  applicable  to  the  entire  situation 
here  presented  and  is  adequate  to  afford  complete  relief  for 
the  evils  which  the  United  States  insists  that  situation  presents, 
it  can  only  be  because  that  law  will  be  given  a  more  compre- 
hensive application  than  has  been  affixed  to  it  in  any  previous 
decision.  This  will  be  the  case,  because  the  undisputed  facts 
as  we  have  stated  them  involve  questions  as  to  the  operation 
of  the  anti-trust  law  not  hitherto  presented  in  any  case.  Thus, 
even  if  the  ownership  of  stock  by  the  American  Tobacco  Com- 
pany in  the  accessory  and  subsidiary  companies  and  the  owner- 
ship of  stock  in  any  of  these  companies  among  themselves  were 
held,  as  was  decided  in  the  Standard  Oil  Company  case,  to  be 
a  violation  of  the  act  and  all  relations  resulting  from  such  stock 
ownership  were  therefore  set  aside,  the  question  would  yet 
remain  whether  the  principal  defendant,  the  American  Tobacco 


579 

Company,  and  the  five  accessory  defendants,  even  when  divested 
of  their  stock  ownership  in  other  corporations,  by  virtue  of  the 
power  which  they  would  continue  to  possess,  even  although  thus 
stripped,  would  amount  to  a  violation  of  both  the  first  and 
second  sections  of  the  act.  Again,  if  it  were  held  that  the  cor- 
porations, the  existence  whereof  was  due  to  a  combination  be- 
tween such  companies  and  other  companies  was  a  violation  of 
the  act,  the  question  would  remain  whether  such  of  the  com- 
panies as  did  not  owe  their  existence  and  power  to  combina- 
tions, but  whose  power  alone  arose  from  the  exercise  of  the  right 
to  acquire  and  own  property,  would  be  amenable  to  the  prohibi- 
tions of  the  act.  Yet,  further,  even  if  this  proposition  was  held 
in  the  affirmative,  the  question  would  remain  whether  the  prin- 
cipal defendant,  the  American  Tobacco  Company,  when  stripped 
of  its  stock  ownership,  would  be  in  and  of  itself  within  the 
prohibitions  of  the  act,  although  that  company  was  organized 
and  took  being  before  the  anti-trust  act  was  passed.  Still 
further,  the  question  would  yet  remain  whether  particular  cor- 
porations which,  when  bereft  of  the  power  which  they  possessed 
as  resulting  from  stock  ownership,  although  they  were  not 
inherently  possessed  of  a  sufficient  residuum  of  power  to  cause 
them  to  be  in  and  of  themselves  either  a  restraint  of  trade  or 
a  monopolization  or  an  attempt  to  monopolize,  should  never- 
theless be  restrained  because  of  their  intimate  connection  and 
association  with  other  corporations  found  to  be  within  the  pro- 
hibitions of  the  act.  The  necessity  of  relief  as  to  all  these 
aspects,  we  think,  seemed  to  the  government  so  essential,  and 
the  difficulty  of  giving  to  the  act  such  a  comprehensive  and 
coherent  construction  as  would  be  adequate  to  enable  it  to  meet 
the  entire  situation,  led  to  what  appears  to  us  to  be  in  their 
essence  a  resort  to  methods  of  construction  not  compatible  one 
with  the  other.  And  the  same  apparent  conflict  is  presented 
by  the  views  of  the  act  taken  by  the  defendants  when  their  con- 
tentions are  accurately  tested. 

Thus  the  government,  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  the  illegal 
character  of  the  original  combination  which  organized  the  old 
American  Tobacco  Company,  asserts  that  the  illegal  character 
of  the  combination  is  plainly  shown  because  the  combination 
was  brought  about  to  stay  the  progress  of  a  flagrant  and  ruin- 
ous trade  war.  In  other  words,  the  .contention  is  that  as  the 
act  forbids  every  contract  and  combination  it  hence  prohibits 
a  reasonable  and  just  agreement  made  for  the  purpose  of  end- 
ing a  trade  war.  But  as  thus  construing  the  act  by  the  rule 
of  the  letter  which  kills  would  necessarily  operate  to  take  out  of 
the  reach  of  the  act  some  of  the  accessory  and  many  subsidiary 
corporations,  the  existence  of  which  depend  not  at  all  upon 
combination  or  agreement  or  contract,  but  upon  mere  purchases 
of  property,  it  is  insisted  in  many  forms  of  argument  that  the 
rule  of  construction  to  be  applied  must  be  the  spirit  and  intent 
of  the  act,  and  therefore  its  prohibitions  must  be  held  to  extend 


580 

to  acts  even  if  not  within  the  literal  terms  of  the  statute  if 
they  are  within  its  spirit,  because  done  with  an  intent  to  bring 
about  the  harmful  results  which  it  was  the  purpose  of  the 
statute  to  prohibit.  So  as  to  the  defendants.  While  it  is  argued, 
on  the  one  hand,  that  the  forms  by  which  various  properties 
were  acquired  in  view  of  the  letter  of  the  act  exclude  many  of 
the  assailed  transactions  from  condemnation,  it  is  yet  urged 
that  giving  to.  the  act  the  broad  construction  which  it  should 
rightfully  receive,  whatever  may  be  the  form,  no  condemnation 
should  follow,  because,  looking  at  the  case  as  a  whole,  every  act 
assailed  is  shown  to  have  been  but  a  legitimate  and  lawful 
•  result  of  the  exertion  of  honest  business  methods  brought  into 
play  for  the  purpose  of  advancing  trade  instead  of  with  the 
object  of  obstructing  and  restraining  the  same.  But  the  diffi- 
culties which  arise,  from  the  complexity  of  the  particular  deal- 
ings which  are  here  involved  and  the  situation  which  they  pro- 
duce, we  think  grows  out  of  a  plain  misconception  of  both  the 
letter  and  spirit  of  the  anti-trust  act.  We  say  of  the  letter, 
because  while  seeking  by  a  narrow  rule  of  the  letter  to  include 
things  which  it  is  deemed  would  otherwise  be  excluded  the  con- 
tention really  destroys  the  great  purpose  of  the  act,  since  it 
renders  it  impossible  to  apply  the  law  to  a  multitude  of  wrong- 
ful acts  which  would  come  within  the  scope  of  its  remedial  pur- 
poses by  resort  to  a  reasonable  construction,  although  they 
would  not  be  within  its  reach  by  a  too  narrow  and  unreasonable 
adherence  to  the  strict  letter.  This  must  be  the  case  unless  it 
be  possible  in  reason  to  say  that  for  the  purpose  of  including 
one  class  of  acts  which  would  not  otherwise  be  embraced  a 
literal  construction,  although  in  conflict  with  reason,  must  be 
applied,  and  for  the  purpose  of  including  other  acts  which  would 
not  otherwise  be  embraced  a  reasonable  construction  must  be 
resorted  to.  That  is  to  say,  two  conflicting  rules  of  construc- 
tion must  at  one  and  the  same  time  be  applied  and  adhered  to. 
The  obscurity  and  resulting  uncertainty,  however,  is  now 
but  an  abstraction,  because  it  has  been  removed  by  the  considera- 
tion which  we  have  given  quite  recently  to  the  construction 
of  the  anti-trust  act  in  the  Standard  Oil  case.  In  that  case  it 
was  held,  without  departing  from  any  previous  decision  of  the 
court,  that  as  the  statute  had  not  defined  the  words  "restraint 
of  trade,"  it  became  necessary  to  construe  these  words,  a  duty 
which  could  only  be  discharged  by  a  resort  to  reason.  We  say 
the  doctrine  thus  stated  was  in  accord  with  all  the  previous 
decisions  of  this  court,  despite  the  fact  that  the  contrary  view 
was  sometimes  erroneously  attributed  to  some  of  the  expres- 
sions used  in  two  prior  decisions.  (Trans-Missouri  Freight 
Association  and  Joint  Traffic  cases,  166  IT.  S.,  290,  and  171 
U.  S.,  505.)  That  such  view  was  a  mistaken  one  was  fully 
pointed  out  in  the  Standard  Oil  case  and  is  additionally  shown 
by  a  passage  in  the  opinion  in  the  Joint  Traffic  case,  as"  follows 
(171  IT.  S.,  568)  :  "  The  act  of  Congress  must  have  a  reason- 


581 

able  construction,  or  else  there  would  scarcely  be  an  agreement 
or  contract  among  business  men  that  could  not  be  said  to  have, 
indirectly  or  remotely,  some  bearing  on  interstate  commerce, 
and  possibly  to  restrain  it.7'  Applying  the  rule  of  reason  to  the 
construction  of  the  statute,  it  was  held  in  the  Standard  Oil 
case  that  as  the  words  "  restraint  of  trade  "  at  common  law  and 
in  the  law  of  this  country  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the 
anti-trust  act  only  embraced  acts  or  contracts  or  agreements 
or  combinations  which  operated  to  the  prejudice  of  the  public 
interests  by  unduly  restricting  competition  or  unduly  obstruct- 
ing the  due  course  of  trade,  or  which,  either  because  of  their 
inherent  nature  or  effect  or  because  of  the  evident  purpose 
of  the  acts,  etc.,  injuriously  restrained  trade,  that  the  words 
as  used  in  the  statute  were  designed  to  have  and  did  have  but 
a  like  significance.  It  was  therefore  pointed  out  that  the  statute 
did  not  forbid  or  restrain  the  power  to  make  normal  and  usual 
contracts  to  further  trade  by  resorting  to  all  normal  methods, 
whether  by  agreement  or  otherwise,  to  accomplish  such  pur- 
pose. 

In  other  words,  it  was  held  not  that  acts  which  the  statute 
prohibited  could  be  removed  from  the  control  of  its  prohibi- 
tions by  a  finding  that  they  were  reasonable,  but  that  the  duty 
to  interpret  which  inevitably  arose  from  the  general  character 
of  the  term  "  restraint  of  trade "  required  that  the  words 
"  restraint  of  trade "  should  be  given  a  meaning  which  would 
not  destroy  the  individual  right  to  contract  and  render  difficult, 
if  not  impossible,  any  movement  of  trade  in  the  channels  of 
interstate  commerce — the  free  movement  of  which  it  was  the 
purpose  of  the  statute  to  protect.  The  soundness  of  the  rule 
that  the  statute  should  receive  a  reasonable  construction,  after 
further  mature  deliberation,  we  see  no  reason  to  doubt.  Indeed, 
the  necessity  for  not  departing  in  this  case  from  the  standard 
of  the  rule  of  reason,  which  is  universal  in  its  application,  is 
so  plainly  required  in  order  to  give  effect  to  the  remedial  pur- 
poses which  the  act  under  consideration  contemplates,  and  to 
prevent  that  act  from  destroying  all  liberty  of  contract  and  all 
substantial  right  to  trade,  and  thus  causing  the  act  to  be  at 
war  with  itself  by  annihilating  the  fundamental  right  of  free- 
dom to  trade  which,  on  the  very  face  of  the  act,  it  was  enacted 
to  preserve,  is  illustrated  by  the  record  before  us.  In  truth, 
the  plain  demonstration  which  this  record  gives  of  the  injury 
which  would  arise  from  and  the  promotion  of  the  wrongs  which 
the  statute  was  intended  to  guard  against  which  would  result 
from  giving  to  the  statute  a  narrow,  unreasoning  and  unheard-of 
construction,  as  illustrated  by  the  record  before  us,  if  possible 
serves  to  strengthen  our  conviction  as  to  the  correctness  of  the 
rule  of  construction,  the  rule  of  reason,  which  was  applied  in 
the  Standard  Oil  case,  the  application  of  which  rule  to  the 
statute  we  now,  in  the  most  unequivocal  terms,  re-express  and 
reaffirm. 


582 

Coming,  then,  to  apply  to  the  case  before  us  the  act  as 
interpreted  in  the  Standard  Oil  and  previous  cases,  all  the  diffi- 
culties suggested  by  the  mere  form  in  which  the  assailed  trans- 
actions are  clothed  become  of  no  moment.  This  follows  because, 
although  it  was  held  in  the  Standard  Oil  case  that,  giving  to 
the  statute  a  reasonable  construction,  the  words  "  restraint  of 
trade"  did  not  embrace  all  those  normal  and  usual  contracts 
essential  to  individual  freedom  and  the  right  to  make  which 
were  necessary  in  order  that  the  course  of  trade  might  be  free, 
yet,  as  a  result  of  the  reasonable  construction  which  was  affixed 
to  the  statute,  it  was  pointed  out  that  the  generic  designation 
of  the  first  and  second  sections  of  the  law,  when  taken  together, 
embraced  every  conceivable  act  which  could  possibly  come  within 
the  spirit  or  purpose  of  the  prohibitions  of  the  law,  without 
regard  to  the  garb  in  which  such  acts  were  clothed.  That  is 
to  say,  it  was  held  that  in  view  of  the  general  language  of  the 
statute  and  the  public  policy  which  it  manifested,  there  was 
no  possibility  of  frustrating  that  policy  by  resorting  to  any 
disguise  or  subterfuge  of  form,  since  resort  to  reason  rendered 
it  impossible  to  escape  by  any  indirection  the  prohibitions  of 
the  statute. 

Considering,  then,  the  undisputed  facts  which  we  have  pre- 
viously stated,  it  remains  only  to  determine  whether  they  estab- 
lish that  the  acts,  contracts,  agreements,  combinations,  etc., 
which  were  assailed  were  of  such  an  unusual  and  wrongful 
character  as  to  bring  them  within  the  prohibitions  of  the  law. 
That  they  were,  in  our  opinion,  so  overwhelmingly,  results  from 
the  undisputed  facts  that  it  seems  only  necessary  to  refer  to 
the  facts  as  we  have  stated  them  to  demonstrate  the  correctness 
of  this  conclusion.  Indeed,  the  history  of  the  combination  is 
so  replete  with  the  doing  of  acts  which  it  was  the  obvious  pur- 
pose of  the  statute  to  forbid,  so  demonstrative  of  the  existence 
from  the  beginning  of  a  purpose  to  acquire  dominion  and  con- 
trol of  the  tobacco  trade,  not  by  the  mere  exertion  of  the  ordi- 
nary right  to  contract  and  to  trade,  but  by  methods  devised  in 
order  to  monopolize  the  trade  by  driving  competitors  out  of 
business,  which  were  ruthlessly  carried  out  upon  the  assumption 
that  to  work  upon  the  fears  or  play  upon  the  cupidity  of  com- 
petitors would  make  success  possible.  We  say  these  conclusions 
are  inevitable,  not  because  of  the  vast  amount  of  property  aggre- 
gated by  the  combination;  not  because  alone  of  the  many  cor- 
porations which  the  proof  shows  were  united  by  resort  to  one 
device  or  another.  Again,  not  alone  because  of  the  dominion 
and  control  over  the  tobacco  trade  which  actually  exists,  but 
because  we  think  the  conclusion  of  wrongful  purpose  and  illegal 
combination  is  overwhelmingly  established  by  the  following 
considerations : 

(a)  By  the  fact  that  the  very  first  organization  or  combi- 
nation was  impelled  by  a  previously  existing  fierce  trade  war, 


583 

evidently  inspired  by  one  or  more  of  the  minds  which  brought 
about  and  became  parties  to  that  combination. 

(&)  Because,  immediately  after  that  combination  and  the 
increase  of  capital  which  followed,,  the  acts  which  ensued  justify 
the  inference  that  the  intention  existed  to  use  the  power  of 
the  combination  as  a  vantage  ground  to  further  monopolize  the 
trade  in  tobacco  by  means  of  trade  conflicts  designed  to  injure 
others,  either  by  driving  competitors  out  of  the  business  or  com-, 
pelling  them  to  become  parties  to  a  combination — a  purpose 
whose  execution  was  illustrated  by  the  plug  war  which  ensued 
and  its  results,  by  the  snuff  war  which  followed  and  its  results, 
and  by  the  conflict  which  immediately  followed  the  entry  of 
the  combination  in  England  and  the  division  of  the  world's 
business  by  the  two  foreign  contracts  which  ensued. 

(c)  By  the  ever-present  manifestation  which  is  exhibited  of 
a   conscious   wrongdoing   by   the   form   in   which   the   various 
transactions  were  embodied  from  the  beginning,  ever  changing 
but  ever  in  substance  the  same.     Now  the  organization  of  a 
new  company,  now  the  control  exerted  by  the  taking  of  stock 
in  one  or  another  or  in  several,   so  as  to  obscure  the  result 
actually  attained,  nevertheless  uniform,  in  their  manifestations 
of  the  purpose  to  restrain  others  and  to  monopolize  and  retain 
power  in  the  hands  of  the  few  who,  it  would  seem,  from  the 
beginning  contemplated  the  mastery  of  the  trade  which  prac- 
tically followed. 

(d)  By  the  gradual  absorption  of  control  over  all  the  ele- 
ments essential  to  the  successful  manufacture  of  tobacco  prod- 
ucts, and  placing  such  control  in  the  hands  of  seemingly  inde- 
pendent corporations  serving  as  perpetual  barriers  to  the  entry 
of  others  into  the  tobacco  trade. 

(e)  By  persistent  expenditure  of  millions  upon  millions  of 
dollars  in  buying  out  plants,  not  for  the  purpose  of  utilizing 
them,  but  in  order  to  close  them  up  and  render  them  useless 
for  the  purposes  of  trade. 

(/)  By  the  constantly  recurring  stipulations,  whose  legal- 
ity, isolatedly  viewed,  we  are  not  considering,  by  which  num- 
bers of  persons,  whether  manufacturers,  stockholders  or  em- 
ployees, were  required  to  bind  themselves,  generally  for  long 
periods,  not  to  compete  in  the  future.  Indeed,  when  the  results 
of  the  undisputed  proof  which  we  have  stated  are  fully  appre- 
hended and  the  wrongful  acts  which  they  exhibit  are  consid- 
ered there  comes  inevitably  to  the  mind  the  conviction  that  it 
was  the  danger  which  it  was  deemed  would  arise  to  individual 
liberty  and  the  public  well-being  from  acts  like  those  which 
this  record  exhibits  which  led  the  legislative  mind  to  conceive 
and  to  enact  the  anti-trust  act,  considerations  which  also  serve 
to  clearly  demonstrate  that  the  combination  here  assailed  is 
within  the  law  as  to  leave  no  doubt  that  it  is  our  plain  duty  to 
apply  its  prohibitions. 


584 

In  stating  summarily,  as  we  have  done,  the  conclusions 
which,  in  our  opinion,  are  plainly  deducible  from  the  undis- 
puted facts,  we  have  not  paused  to  give  the  reasons  why  we 
consider,  after  great  consideration,  that  the  elaborate  arguments 
advanced  to  affix  a  different  complexion  to  the  case  are  wholly 
devoid  of  merit.  We  do  not,  for  the  sake  of  brevity,  moreover, 
stop  to  examine  and  discuss  the  various  propositions  urged  in 
the  argument  at  bar  for  the  purpose  of  demonstrating  that  the 
subject  matter  of  the  combination  which  we  find  to  exist  and 
the  combination  itself  are  not  within  the  scope  of  the  anti-trust 
law,  because,  when  rightly  considered,  they  are  merely  matters 
of  intrastate  commerce  and  therefore  subject  alone  to  State 
control.  We  have  done  this  because  the  want  of  merit  in  all 
the  arguments  advanced  on  such  subjects  is  so  completely  estab- 
lished by  the  prior  decisions  of  'this  court,  as  pointed  out  in  the 
Standard  Oil  case,  as  not  to  require  restatement. 

Leading  as  this  does  to  the  conclusion  that  the  assailed  com- 
bination in  all  its  aspects — that  is  to  say,  whether  it  be  looked 
at  from  the  point  of  view  of  stock  ownership  or  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  principal  corporation  and  the  accessory  or  subsi- 
diary corporations  viewed  independently,  including  the  foreign 
corporations  in  so  far  as  by  the  contracts  made  by  them 
they  became  co-operators  in  the  combinations — comes  within 
the  prohibitions  of  the  first  and  second  sections  of  the  anti- 
trust act,  it  remains  only  finally  to  consider  the  remedy  which 
it  is  our  duty  to  apply  to  the  situation  thus  found  to  exist. 

THE  EEMEDY. 

Our  conclusion  being  that  the  combination  as  a  whole,  involv- 
ing all  its  co-operating  or  associated  parts  in  whatever  form 
clothed,  constitutes  a  restraint  of  trade  within  the  first  section, 
and  an  attempt  to  monopolize  or  a  monopolization  within  the 
second  section  of  the  anti-trust  act,  it  follows  that  the  relief 
which  we  are  to  afford  must  be  wider  than  that  awarded  by  the 
lower  court,  since  that  court  merely  decided  that  certain  of  the 
corporate  defendants  constituted  combinations  in  violation  of 
the  first  section  of  the  act  because  of  the  fact  that  they  were 
formed  by  the  union  of  previously  competing  concerns  and  that 
the  other  defendants  not  dismissed  from  the  action  were  parties 
to  such  combinations  or  promoted  their  purposes.  We  hence, 
in  determining  the  relief  proper  to  be  given,  may  not  mode] 
our  action  upon  that  granted  by  the  court  below,  but  in  order  to 
enable  us  to  award  relief  coterminous  with  the  ultimate  redress 
of  the  wrongs  which  we  find  to  exist,  we  must  approach  the 
subject  of  relief  from  an  original  point  of  view.  Such  subject 
necessarily  takes  a  twofold  aspect — the  character  of  the  perma- 
nent relief  required  and  the  nature  of  the  temporary  relief 
essential  to  be  applied  pending  the  working  out  of  permanent 
relief  in  the  event  that  it  be  found  that  it  is  impossible  under 


585 

the  situation  as  it  now  exists  to  at  once  rectify  such  existing 
wrongful  condition.  In  considering  the  subject  from  both  of 
these  aspects  three  dominant  influences  must  guide  our  action: 
(1)  The  duty  of  giving  complete  and  efficacious  effect  to  the 
prohibitions  of  the  statute;  (2)  the  accomplishing  of  this  result 
with  as  little  injury  as  possible  to  the  interest  of  the  general 
public;  and  (3)  a  proper  regard  for  the  vast  interests  of  private 
property  which  may  have  become  vested  in  many  persons  as  a 
result  of  the  acquisition  either  by  way  of  stock  ownership  or 
otherwise  of  interests  in  the  stock  or  securities  of  the  combina- 
tion without  any  guilty  knowledge  or  intent  in  any  way  to 
become  actors  or  participants  in  the  wrongs  which  we  find  to 
have  inspired  and  dominated  the  combination  from  the  begin- 
ning. Mindful  of  these  considerations  and  to  clear  the  way 
for  their  application  we  say  at  the  outset,  without  stopping  to 
amplify  the  reasons  which  lead  us  to  that  conclusion,  we  think 
that  the  court  below  clearly  erred  in  dismissing  the  individual 
defendants,  the  United  Cigar  Stores  Company  and  the  foreign 
corporations  and  their  subsidiary  corporations. 

Looking  at  the  situation  as  we  have  hitherto  pointed  it  out, 
it  involves  difficulties  in  the  application  of  remedies  greater 
than  have  been  presented  by  any  case  involving  the  anti-trust 
law  which  has  been  hitherto  considered  by  this  court:  First, 
because  in  this  case  it  is  obvious  that  a  mere  decree  forbidding 
stock  ownership  by  one  part  of  the  combination  in  another  part 
or  entity  thereof  would  afford  no  adequate  measure  of  relief, 
since  different  ingredients  of  the  combination  would  remain 
unaffected,  and  by  the  very  nature  and  character  of  their  organi- 
zation would  be  able  to  continue  the  wrongful  situation  which 
it  is  our  duty  to  destroy;  second,  because  the  methods  of  ap- 
parent ownership  by  which  the  wrongful  intent  was  in  part 
carried  out  and  the  subtle  devices  which,  as  we  have  seen,  were 
resorted  to  for  the  purpose  of  accomplishing  the  wrong  contem- 
plated, by  way  of  ownership  or  otherwise,  are  of  such  a  char- 
acter that  it  is  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  formulate  a  rem- 
edy which  could  restore  in  their  entirety  the  prior  lawful  con- 
ditions ;  third,  because  the  methods  devised  by  which  the  various 
essential  elements  to  the  successful  operation  of  the  tobacco 
business  from  any  particular  aspect  have  been  so  separated  under 
various  subordinate  combinations,  yet  so  unified  by  way  of  the 
control  worked  out  by  the  scheme  here  condemned,  are  so 
involved  that  any  specific  form  of  relief  which  we  might  now 
order  in  substance  and  effect  might  operate  really  to  injure  the 
public  and,  it  may  be,  to  perpetuate  the  wrong.  Doubtless  it 
was  the  presence  of  these  difficulties  which  caused  the  United 
States,  in  its  prayer  for  relief,  to  tentatively  suggest  rather 
than  to  specifically  demand  definite  and  precise  remedies.  "We 
might  at  once  resort  to  one  or  the  other  of  two  general  remedies 
—  (a)  the  allowance  of  a  permanent  injunction  restraining  the 
combination  as  a  universality  and  all  the  individuals  and  cor- 


586 

porations  which  form  a  part  of  or  co-operate  in  it  in  any  manner 
or  form  from  continuing  to  engage  in  interstate  commerce  until 
the  illegal  situation  be  cured,  a  measure  of  relief  which  would 
accord  in  substantial  effect  with  that  awarded  below  to  the  extent 
that  the  court  found  illegal  combinations  to  exist;  or  (b)  to 
direct  the  appointment  of  a  receiver  to  take  charge  of  the  assets 
and  property  in  this  country  of  the  combination  in  all  its  rami- 
fications for  the  purpose  of  preventing  a  continued  violation 
of  the  law,  and  thus  working  out  by  a  sale  of  the  property  of 
the  combination  or  otherwise  a  condition  of  things  which  would 
not  be  repugnant  to  the  prohibitions  of  the  act. 

But,  having  regard  to  the  principles  which  we  have  said 
must  control  our  action,  we  do  not  think  we  can  now  direct  the 
immediate  application  of  either  of  these  remedies.  We  so  con- 
sider as  to  the  first  because  in  view  of  the  extent  of  the  com- 
bination, the  vast  field  which  it  covers,  the  all-embracing  char- 
acter of  its  activities  concerning  tobacco  and  its  products,  to  at 
once  stay  the  movement  in  interstate  commerce  of  the  products 
which  the  combination  or  its  co-operating  forces  produce  or 
control  might  inflict  infinite  injury  upon  the  public  by  leading 
to  a  stoppage  of  supply  and  a  great  enhancement  of  prices.  The 
second  because  the  extensive  power  which  would  result  from  at 
once  resorting  to  a  receivership  might  not  only  do  grievous 
injury  to  the  public,  but  also  cause  widespread  and  perhaps 
irreparable  loss  to  many  innocent  people.  Under  these  circum- 
stances, taking  into  mind  the  complexity  of  the  situation  in 
all  of  its  aspects  and  giving  weight  to  the  many-sided  considera- 
tions which  must  control  our  judgment,  we  think,  so  far  as  the 
permanent  relief  to  be  awarded  is  concerned,  we  should  decree 
as  follows: 

First — That  the  combination  in  and  of  itself,  as  well  as 
each  and  all  of  the  elements  composing  it,  whether  corporate 
or  individual,  whether  considered  collectively  or  separately,  be 
decreed  to  be  in  restraint  of  trade  and  an  attempt  to  monopo- 
lize and  a  monopolization  within  the  first  and  second  sections 
of  the  anti-trust  act. 

Second — That  the  court  below,  in  order  to  give  effective 
force  to  our  decree  in  this  regard,  be  directed  to  hear  the  par- 
ties, by  evidence  or  otherwise,  as  it  may  be  deemed  proper,  for 
the  purpose  of  ascertaining  and  determining  upon  some  plan 
or  method  of  dissolving  the  combination  and  of  re-creating, 
out  of  the  elements  now  composing  it,  a  new  condition  which 
shall  be  honestly  in  harmony  with  and  not  repugnant  to  the 
law. 

Third — That  for  the  accomplishment  of  these  purposes,  tak- 
ing into  view  the  difficulty  of  the  situation,  a  period  of  six 
months  is  allowed  from  the  receipt  of  our  mandate,  with  leave, 
however,  in  the  event,  in  the  judgment  of  the  court  below,  the 
necessities  of  the  situation  require,  to  extend  such  period  to  a 
further  time,  not  to  exceed  sixty  days. 


587 

Fourth — That  in  the  event,  before  the  expiration  of  the 
period  thus  fixed,  a  condition  of  disintegration  in  harmony  with 
the  law  is  not  brought  about,  either  as  the  consequence  of  the 
action  of  the  court  in  determining  an  issue  on  the  subject  or 
in  accepting  a  plan  agreed  upon,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the 
court,  either  by  way  of  an  injunction  restraining  the  movement 
of  the  products  of  the  combination  in  the  channels  of  inter- 
state or  foreign  commerce  or  by  the  appointment  of  a  receiver, 
to  give  effect  to  the  requirements  of  the  statute. 

Pending  the  bringing  about  of  the  result  just  stated,  each 
and  all  of  the  defendants,  individuals  as  well  as  corporations, 
should  be  restrained  from  doing  any  act  which  might  further 
extend  or  enlarge  the  power  of  the  combination,  by  any  means 
or  device  whatsoever.  In  view  of  the  considerations  we  have 
stated,  we  leave  the  matter  to  the  court  below  to  work  out  a 
compliance  with  the  law  without  unnecessary  injury  to  the  pub- 
lic or  the  rights  of  private  property. 

While  in  many  substantial  respects  our  conclusion  is  in 
accord  with  that  reached  by  the  court  below,  and  while  also 
the  relief  which  we  think  should  be  awarded  in  some  respects 
is  coincident  with  that  which  the  court  granted,  in  order  to 
prevent  any  complication  and  to  clearly  define  the  situation, 
we  think  instead  of  affirming  and  modifying,  our  decree,  in 
view  of  the  broad  nature  of  our  conclusions,  should  be  one  of 
reversal  and  remanding  with  directions  to  the  court  below  to 
enter  a  decree  in  conformity  with  this  opinion  and  to  take  such 
further  steps  as  may  be  necessary  to  fully  carry  out  the  direc- 
tions which  we  have  given. 

And  it  is  so  ordered. 

DISSENTING  OPINION  OF  ME.  JUSTICE  HARLAN. 

Mr.  Justice  Harlan  concurred  in  part  and  dissented  in 
part: 

I  concur  with  many  things  said  in  the  opinion  just  deliv- 
ered for  the  court,  but  it  contains  some  observations  from 
which  I  am  compelled  to  withhold  my  assent. 

I  agree  mosj;  thoroughly  with  the  court  in  holding  that  the 
principal  defendant,  the  American  Tobacco  Company  and  its 
accessory  and  subsidiary  corporations  and  companies,  including 
the  defendant  English  corporations,  constitute  a  combination 
which,  "  in  and  of  itself,  as  well  as  each  and  all  of  the  elements 
composing  it,  whether  corporate  or  individual,  whether  consid- 
ered collectively  or  separately,"  is  illegal  under  the  anti-trust 
act  of  1890,  and  should  be  decreed  to  be  in  restraint  of  inter- 
state trade  and  an  attempt  to  monopolize  and  a  monopolization 
of  part  of  such  trade. 

The  evidence  in  the  record  is,  I  think,  abundant  to  enable 
the  court  to  render  a  decree  containing  all  necessary  details 
for  the  suppression  of  the  evils  of  the  combination  in  question. 


588 

But  the  case  is  sent  back,  with  directions  further  to  hear  the 
parties,  by  evidence  or  otherwise,  "  for  the  purpose  of  ascer- 
taining and  determining  upon  some  plan  or  method  of  dissolv- 
ing the  combination,  and  of  re-creating  out  of  the  elements  now 
composing  it  a  new  condition  "  which  shall  not  be  repugnant 
to  law.  The  court  in  its  opinion  says  of  the  present  combina- 
tion that  its  illegal  purposes  are  overwhelmingly  established 
by  many  facts,  among  others,  "by  the  ever-present  manifesta- 
tion which  is  exhibited  of  a  conscious  wrongdoing  by  the  form 
in  which  the  various  transactions  were  embodied  from  the  be- 
ginning, ever  changing,  but  ever  in  substance  the  same.  Now 
the  organization  of  a  new  company,  now  the  control  exerted 
by  the  taking  of  stock  in  one  or  another,  or.  in  several,  so  as  to 
obscure  the  result  actually  attained,  nevertheless  uniform  in 
their  manifestations  of  the  purpose  to  restrain  others,  and  to 
monopolize  and  retain  power  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  who,  it 
would  seem,  from  the  beginning  contemplated  the  mastery  of 
the  trade  which  practically  followed.  By  the  gradual  absorp- 
tion of  control  over  all  the  elements  essential  to  the  successful 
manufacture  of  tobacco  products  and  placing  such  control  in 
the  hands  of  seemingly  independent  corporations  serving  as 
perpetual  barrier  to  the  entry  of  others  into  the  tobacco  trade." 
The  court  further  says  of  this  combination  and  monopoly: 
"  The  history  of  the  combination  is  so  replete  with  the 
doing  of  acts  which  it  was  the  obvious  purpose  of  the  statute 
to  forbid,  so  demonstrative  of  the  existence,  from  the  begin- 
ning, of  a  purpose  to  acquire  dominion  and  control  of  the 
tobacco  trade,  not  by  the  mere  exertion  of  the  ordinary  right 
to  contract  and  to  trade,  but  by  methods  devised  to  monopolize 
the  trade  by  driving  competitors  out  of  business,  which  were 
ruthlessly  carried  out,  upon  the  assumption  that  to  work  upon 
the  fears  or  play  upon  the  cupidity  of  competitors  would  make 
success  possible." 

But  it  seems  that  the  course  I  have  suggested  is  not  to  be 
pursued.  The  case  is  to  go  back  to  the  circuit  court  in  order 
that  out  of  the  elements  of  the  old  combination  a  new  con- 
dition may  be  "  re-created "  that  will  not  be  in  violation  of 
the  law.  I  confess  my  inability  to  find,  in  the  history  of  this 
combination,  anything  to  justify  the  wish  that  a  new  condition 
should  be  "re-created"  out  of  the  mischievous  elements  that 
compose  the  present  combination,  which,  together  with  its  com- 
ponent parts,  have,  without  ceasing,  pursued  the  vicious  meth- 
ods pointed  out  by  the  court.  If  the  proof  before  us — as  it 
undoubtedly  does — warrants  the  characterization  which  the  court 
has  made  of  this  monster  combination,  why  cannot  all  neces- 
sary directions  be  now  given  as  to  the  terms  of  the  decree?  In 
my  judgment  there  is  enough  in  the  record  to  enable  this  court 
to  formulate  specific  directions  as  to  what  the  decree  should 
contain.  Such  directions  would  not  only  end  this  litigation, 
but  would  serve  to  protect  the  public  against  any  more  conscious 


589 

wrongdoing  by  those  who  have  persistently  and  "ruthlessly," 
to  use  this  court's  language,  pursued  illegal  methods  to  defeat 
the  act  of  Congress. 

I  will  not  say  what,  in  my  opinion,  should  be  the  form  of 
the  decree  nor  speculate  as  to  what  the  details  ought  to  be.  It 
will  be  time  enough  to  speak  on  that  subject  when  we  have  the 
decree  before  us.  I  will,  however,  say  now  that,  in  my  opinion, 
the  decree  below  should  be  affirmed  as  to  the  tobacco  company 
and  its  accessory  and  subsidiary  companies  and  reversed  on  the 
cross  appeal  of  the  government. 

But  my  objections  have  also  reference  to  those  parts  of  the 
court's  opinion  reaffirming  what  it  said  recently  in  the  Standard 
Oil  case  about  the  former  decisions  of  this  court  touching  the 
anti-trust  act.  We  are  again  reminded,  as  we  were  in  the 
Standard  Oil  case,  of  the  necessity  of  applying  the  "  rule  of 
reason"  in  the  construction  of  this  act  of  Congress — an  act 
expressed,  as  I  think,  in  language  so  clear  and  simple  that  there 
is  no  room  whatever  for  construction. 

Congress,  with  full  and  exclusive  power  over  the  whole  sub- 
ject, has  signified  its  purpose  to  forbid  every  restraint  of  inter- 
state trade,  in  whatever  form  or  to  whatever  extent,  but  the 
court  has  assumed  to  insert  in  the  act,  by  construction  merely, 
words  which  make  Congress  say  that  it  means  only  to  prohibit 
the  "  undue "  restraint  of  trade. 

If  I  do  not  misapprehend  the  opinion  just  delivered,  the 
court  insists  that  what  was  said  in  the  opinion  in  the  Standard 
Oil  case  was  in  accordance  with  our  previous  decisions  in  the 
Trans-Missouri  and  Joint  Traffic  cases  (166  17.  S.,  290;  171 
U.  S.,  505),  if  we  resort  to  reason.  This  statement  surprises 
me  quite  as  much  as  would  a  statement  that  black  was  white 
or  white  was  black.  It  is  scarcely  just  to  the  majority  in  those 
two  cases  for  the  court  at  this  late  day  to  say  or  to  intimate 
that  they  interpreted  the  act  of  Congress  without  regard  to  the 
"  rule  of  reason,"  or  to  assume,  as  the  court  now  does,  that  the 
act  was,  for  the  first  time  in  the  Standard  Oil  case,  interpreted 
in  the  "  light  of  reason."  One  thing  is  certain,  "  rule  of 
reason,"  to  which  the  court  refers,  does  not  justify  the  perver- 
sion of  the  plain  words  of  an  act  in  order  to  defeat  the  will  of 
Congress. 

By  every  conceivable  form  of  expression  the  majority,  in 
the  Trans-Missouri  and  Joint  Traffic  cases,  adjudged  that  the 
act  of  Congress  did  not  allow  restraint  of  interstate  trade  to 
any  extent  or  in  any  form,  and  three  times  it  expressly  rejected 
the  theory,  which  had  been  persistently  advanced,  that  the  act 
should  be  construed  as  if  it  had  in  it  the  word  "  unreasonable  " 
or  "  undue."  But  now  the  court,  in  accordance  with  what  it 
denominates  the  "rule  of  reason,"  in  effect  inserts  in  the  act 
the  .word  "  undue,"  which  means  the  same  as  "  unreasonable," 
and  thereby  makes  Congress  say  what  it  did  not  say,  what,  as 
I  think,  it  plainly  did  not  intend  to  say,  and  what,  since  the 


590 

passage  of  the  act,  it  has  explicitly  refused  to  say.  It  has 
steadily  refused  to  amend  the  act  so  as  to  tolerate  a  restraint 
of  interstate  commerce  even  where  such  restraint  could  be  said 
to  be  "  reasonable  "  or  "  d  tie."  In  short,  the  court  now,  by 
judicial  legislation,  in  effect  amends  an  act  of  Congress  relat- 
ing to  a  subject  over  which  that  department  of'  the  government 
has  exclusive  cognizance.  I  beg  to  say  that,  in  my  judgment, 
the  majority,  in  the  former  cases,  were  guided  by  the  "  rule  of 
reason";  for  it  may  be  assumed  that  they  knew  quite  as  well 
as  others  what  the  rules  of  reason  require  when  a  court  seeks 
to  ascertain  the  will  of  Congress  as  expressed  in  a  statute.  It 
is  obvious,  from  the  opinions  in  the  former  cases,  that  the  ma- 
jority did  not  grope  about  in  darkness,  but  in  discharging  the 
solemn  duty  put  on  them  they  stood  out  in  the  full  glare  of  the 
"  light  of  reason  "  and  felt  and  said  time  and  again  that  the 
court  could  not,  consistently  with  the  Constitution,  and  would 
not,  usurp  the  functions  of  Congress  by  indulging  in  judicial 
legislation.  They  said  in  express  words,  in  the  former  cases, 
in  response  to  the  earnest  contentions  of  counsel,  that  to  insert 
by  construction  the  word  "  unreasonable  "  or  "  undue "  in  the 
act  of  Congress  would  be  judicial  legislation.  Let  me  say,  also, 
that  as  we  all  agree  that  the  combination  in  question  was  illegal 
under  any  construction  of  the  anti-trust  act,  there  was  not  the 
slightest  necessity  to  enter  upon  an  extended  argument  fo  show 
that  the  act  of  Congress  was  to  be  read  as  if  it  contained  the 
word  " unreasonable "  or  "undue."  All  that  is  said  in  the 
court's  opinion  in  support  of  that  view  is,  I  say  with  respect, 
obiter  dicta,  pure  and  simple. 

These  views  are  fully  discussed  in  the  dissenting  opinion 
delivered  by  me  in  the  Standard  Oil  case.  I'  will  not  repeat 
what  is  therein  stated,  but  it  may  be  well  to  cite  an  additional 
authority.  In  the  Trade-Mark  cases  (100  IT.  S.,  82)  the  court 
was  asked  to  sustain  the  constitutionality  of  the  statute  there 
involved.  But  the  statute  could  not  have  been  sustained,  ex- 
cept by  inserting  in  it  words  not  put  there  by  Congress.  Mr. 
Justice  Miller,  delivering  the  unanimous  judgment  of  the  court, 
said: 

"  If  we  should,  in  the  case  before  us,  undertake  to  make 
by  judicial  construction  a  law  which  Congress  did  not  make, 
it  is  quite  probable  we  should  do  what,  if  the  matter  were  now 
before  that  body,  it  would  be  unwilling  to  do." 

This  language  was  cited  with  approval  in  Employer's  Liabil- 
ity cases  (207  IT.  S.,  463,  502).  I  refer  to  my  dissenting 
opinion  in  the  Standard  Oil  case  as  containing  a  full  statement 
of  my  views  of  this  particular  question. 

For  the  reasons  stated,  I  concur  in  part  with  the  court's 
opinion  and  dissent  in  part. 


591 


RECEIVED  TOO   LATE    FOR   CLASSIFICATION. 


Timothy    Healy,   President    International   Brotherhood   of 
Stationary  Firemen,  New  York  City. 

1.  Do  you  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is 
made  clear  and  workable  ? 

I  do  not.  It  would  be  superfluous  to  point  out  that  con- 
cerning the  meaning  of  this  law  there  exists  the  widest  possible 
diversity  of  opinion — not  only  among  business  men,  but  among 
those  citizens  whose  training  gives  them  special  qualifications 
as  definers  of  statutes. 

%.  Do  you  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  what  are 
commonly  known  as  old  competitive  methods  in  busi- 
ness? 

No  more  than  we  should  return  to  transportation  by  canal 
boat  and  mule. 
?.     Do  you  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law? 

As  an  abstract  proposition,  I  should  answer  no.  But  repeal, 
[  believe,  is  greatly  to  be  preferred  to  the  present  uncertainty, 
which  to  my  mind  appears  to  have  been  too  little  relieved  by  the 
Supreme  Court  decisions  in  the  recent  tobacco  and  oil  cases. 

4.  Do  you  favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law  in  any  way?    If 

so,  in  what  particulars  ? 

I  favor  amending  it  only  to  such  extent  as  would  make  its 
meaning  clear.  This  answer  is  qualified  by  that  given  to  Ques- 
tion No.  6. 

5.  Should  railroads  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affect- 

ing rates,  subject  to  the  approval  and  regulation  of  the 

Interstate  Commerce  Commission? 

Decidedly  yes.  Without  such  agreements  must  ensue  a  kind 
of  competition  not  only  disastrous  to  the  competing  interests, 
but  also  to  such  interests  as  these  interests  serve.  That  is  to 
say,  that  through  competition  unrestrained  one  or  two  railroads, 
or  two  or  more  of  a  group,  covering  practically  the  same  terri- 
tory, are  forced  into  practical  bankruptcy ;  and  then  the  shipping 
interests  (and  ultimately  consumers'  interests)  are  made  to 
suffer. 
C.  Should  trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 

Sherman  Act? 

Decidedly.  With  trade  unions  brought  more  and  more 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  this  act  the  entire  trade  union  move- 
ment must  disintegrate,  with  the  result  that  the  masses  of  our 
working  people  will  be  without  protection,  which  alone  has 
enabled  them  to  withstand  the  economic  pressure  such  as  other 


592 

classes  know  of  only  as  an  academic  proposition.  If  with  the 
trades  unions  practically  dissolved  no  other  protection  is  to  be 
thrown  around  hours  and  wages,  and  the  competition  for  bed 
and  a  loaf  is  to  feel  no  restraining  hand,  then  what  shall  become 
of  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  land  ? 

7.  Should  combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production 

or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  be  rendered  lawful 

under  the  Sherman  Act? 

This  is  a  question  not  answered  readily.  If  we  may  suppose 
that  the  farmers  of  the  country  could  at  any  time,  and  would, 
restrict  materially  the  production  of  the  necessaries  of  life,  or 
withhold  from  the  market  the  same  for  a  higher  price,  then  I 
might  agree  to  having  the  Sherman  Act  apply  to  them.  As 
regards  the  farmers  and  the  trades  unions  let  me  here  add  that, 
so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  discover,  it  was  not  the  intention 
at  the  time  of  the  Sherman  Act  to  have  the  same  apply  to  either, 
and  Fm  convinced  that  to  a  large  extent  the  bringing  in  of 
farmers  and  trades  unions  is  simply  an  attempt  to  befog  the 
issue. 

8.  Do  you  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  ? 

To  answer  this  question  intelligently  would  require  that  I 
should  first  know  what  plan  of  regulation  should  follow. 

t\     Do  you  favor  a  Federal  license  law  ? 

To  this  I  make  the  same  answer  made  to  Question  jSTo.  8. 

10.     Do  you  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers 
not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers? 
My  opinion  is  that  in  the  creation  of  a  commission  with 

powers  analogous  to  those  exercised  by  the  Interstate  Commerce 

Commission  the  solution  is  to  be  found. 

31.     IM  your  judgment  what  caused  or  causes  the  present  dis- 
turbed business  conditions? 

It  would  be  presumptuous  of  me  to  attempt  to  ansAver  this 
question. 

E.     Kuebler,     President      Sacramento     (Cal.)     Federated 
Trades  Council.     (Official  Communication.) 

Replying  to  the  questions  propounded  in  a  communication  re- 
ceived from  your  organization  concerning  the  Sherman  Anti- 
Trust  Act,  will  say  the  same  have  been  under  consideration  by  our 
Law  and  Legislative  Committee  for  some  time.  Their  recom- 
mendations in  the  matter  were  discussed  at  length  at  a  recent 
meeting  of  the  Sacramento  Federated  Trades  Council,  and  the 
following  answers  were  determined  upon  to  the  various  questions : 
1.  Do  you  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law,  as  now  interpreted,  is 
made  clear  and  workable  ? 

Answer:  No. 


2.  Do  you  consider  it  feasible  to  attempt  to  return  to  what  are 

commonly  known  as  old  competitive  methods  in  busi- 
ness? 
Answer:  Yes. 

3.  Do  you  favor  a  repeal  of  the  Sherman  Law  ? 
Answer :    No. 

4.  Do  you  favor  amending  the  Sherman  Law  in  any  way  ?    If 

so,  in  what  particulars  ? 

Answer:  Yes,  provided  such  amendment  will  result  in  the 
betterment  of  the  condition  of  the  masses. 

5.  Should  railroads  be  allowed  to  enter  into  agreements  affecting 

rates,    subject  to  the    approval    and  regulation  of  the 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  ? 
Answer :  Yes. 

6.  Should  trade  unions  be  excepted  from  the  operation  of  the 

Sherman  Act? 
Answer:  Yes. 

7.  Should  combinations  of  farmers,  either  to  restrict  production 

or  to  hold  a  crop  for  higher  prices,  be  rendered  lawful 
under  the  Sherman  Act  ? 
Answer:  No. 

8.  Do  you  favor  a  national  incorporation  law  ? 
Answer :  Yes. 

9.  Do  you  favor  a  Federal  license  law? 
Answer :  Yes. 

10.  Do  you  favor  an  Interstate  Trade  Commission  with  powers 

not  unlike  those  now  enjoyed  by  the  Interstate  Com- 
merce Commission  in  relation  to  common  carriers  ? 
Answer:  Yes. 

11.  In  your  judgment  wiiat  caused  or  causes  the  present  dis- 

turbed business  conditions  ? 

Answer :  Large  combinations  of  capital  in  restraint  of  trade ; 
high  cost  of  living ;  large  increase  in  the  number  of  unemployed ; 
the  maintenance  of  a  large  standing  army  by  the  United  States 
Government.  Doubtless  other  reasons  may  be  found,  but  the  fore- 
going were  considered  pre-eminent  among  the  causes  which  have 
led  to  existing  disturbed  business  conditions. 

Franklin   L.   Sheppard    (Isaac   A.   Sheppard   &   Company, 
Manufacturers),  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

The  national  government  is  perpetually  "  playing  politics  " 
and  acting  the  demagogue  to  please  the  rabble  and  win  votes, 
oblivious  of  the  substantial  interests  of  every  citizen  who  is  a 
producer  or  who  has  any  savings  to  invest.  It  is  high  time 
that  even  the  smallest  holder  of  real  or  personal  property  under- 
stood the  situation  and  made  his  influence  felt.  There  is  no 
investment  to-day  in  the  United  States  that  does  not  stand  in 
jeopardy,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  because  of  ill-advised  gov- 
ernmental policy. 


594 

William  G.  Mather,  President,  Cleveland- Cliffs  Iron  Com- 
pany, Cleveland,  Ohio. 

I  see  no  reason  why  one  company  should  not  hold  stock  in 
another  company,  providing  certain  regulations  were  made  pro- 
tecting the  minority  interest.  Multiplication  of  the  power  of 
control  is,  I  presume,  dangerous  on  account  of  such  control  being 
exercised  oppressively  or  illegally,  and  such  exercise  should  be 
controlled  by  proper  laws.  If  you  prevent  a  corporation  from 
buying  a  control  or  interest  in  some  other  corporation,  then  you 
are  legislating  against  corporations  in  favor  of  partnerships  and 
individual  owners.  Overcapitalization  may  be  undesirable  when 
it  takes  the  form  of  fooling  the  public,  with  the  idea  that  a  more 
exorbitant  price  than  is  necessary  should  be  charged  in  order 
that  fair  return  on  adequate  capital  should  be  secured.  How- 
ever, it  seems  to  me  difficult  to  adequately  control  so  that  no 
concern  should  ever  be  overcapitalized,  but  if  there  is  to  be  any 
regulation  as  to  prices  or  profits  in  companies  which  are  very 
large,  such  regulation  would  be  just  as  adequate  to  protect  the 
public  as  to  go  into  the  question  of  overcapitalization.  I  do  think 
that  the  issue  of  bonds  and  stock  by  large  public  service  corpora- 
tions should  be  supervised  because  they  are  dealt  with  on  the 
stock  market,  and  in  the  past  such  issues  .may  have  been  made 
for  the  purpose  of  securing  to  insiders  large  profits,  who  sold  to 
outsiders  stocks  and  securities  with  the  value  of  which  they  were 
not  adequately  familiar.  Such  restrictions,  however,  seem  un- 
necessary for  corporations  of  moderate  size,  producing  a  mod- 
erate percentage  of  a  certain  product. 

I  would  say  that  agreements  to  regulate  the  production, 
prices  and  the  like  under  suitable  control  should  be  permitted. 
This  would  give  a  comparatively  smaller  aggregation  of  capital 
many  of  the  benefits  derived  from  the  large  aggregation  which 
controls  a  very  large  amount  of  the  production  of  any  particular 
article.  There  are  some  dangers  to  the  public  from  the  existence 
of  very  large  aggregations  of  capital  controlling  very  large  per- 
centages of  the  production  of  any  articles,  but  the  tendency  to 
these  aggregations  is  aggravated,  for  the  fact  that  smaller  cor- 
porations are  unable  to  make  any  reasonable  agreements  to  pro- 
tect their  business  from  destructive  competition.  I  do  not  think 
that  industrial  organizations  should  be  subjected  to  such  severe 
and  arbitrary  regulation  as  is  now  conducted  by  the  Interstate 
Commerce  Commission  over  railroads.  It  may  be  quite  proper 
in  the  case  of  railroads  because  they  are  naturally  monopolies 
and  are  dealing  with  the  public  in  a  way  which  the  public  can- 
not prevent;  that  is,  the  public  has  no  choice  but  to  ship  its 
goods  over  the  railroads  and  to  travel  over  them.  In  the  case 
of  manufacturers  and  certain  industries  of  a  private  nature  and 
which  are  not  naturally  monopolies,  the  public  is  not  necessarily 
dependent  upon  them  to  the  extent  that  they  are  upon  the  rail- 
roads. 


Taplin,    Rice-Clerkin    Company,    Manufacturers,    William 
Clerkin,  Akron,  Ohio. 

We  believe  that  the  Sherman  Law  as  written,  not  as  inter- 
preted, is  large  enough,  broad  enough  and  good  enough  to  com- 
plete and  cure  all  of  the  ills  attendant,  in  the  combinations,  now 
existing  in  the  restraint  of  trade. 

We  consider  it  perfectly  feasible  to  return  to  the  competi- 
tive method,  for  it  is  only  in  this  way  that  the  great  masses  of 
people  can  get  the  benefits  of  competitive  prices.  The  great 
majority  of  wage  earners  sell  their  services  in  a  competitive 
market,  and  buying  goods  in  a  monopoly  market  would  be  de- 
structive, if  not,  you  may  say,  fatal,  to  successful  accumula- 
tions of  competency  for  old  age,  infirmity  and  sickness.  By  the 
competitive  or  old  method  you  will  have  a  large  number  of  busi- 
ness men,  each  striving  to  see  how  rapidly  he  can  advance  his 
business  by  the  various  methods  of  either  salesmanship,  cutting 
the  price  or  offering  inducements  to  the  purchaser.  On  the 
monopolistic  plan,  it's  "  Take  it  at  this  price  as  fixed  by  us, 
reasonable  or  otherwise,  or  leave  it  alone."  The  monopoly  plan 
produces  your  multi-millionaires,  well  illustrated  in  the  names  of 
Carnegie,  Eockefeller,  Morgan,  Frick  and  many  others,  not 
millions,  but  a  hundred,  hundred  times  over.  Is  it  not  too  much 
power  and  authority  and  privilege  where  one  man  can  give 
$25,000,000  no  doubt  for  beneficial  causes?  But  the  real  facts 
are  that  the  wage  earner  who  helps  to  accumulate  this  is  given 
little  or  nothing.  Eaw  material  before  being  touched  by  the 
hands  of  labor  is  but  of  little  value. 

Edwin  C.  Goddard,  Professor  of  Law,  University  of  Michi- 
gan, Ann  Arbor. 

I  do  not  believe  in  creating  a  conflict  between  economic  law 
and  statute  law.  In  a  free  country  such  a  conflict  has  always 
resulted  in  defeat  to  the  statute.  Attempts  to  enforce  the  Sher- 
man Act  have  merely  resulted  in  compelling  capital  to  find  still 
more  effective  ways  of  combination.  The  Northern  Securities 
case  was  heralded  as  a  victory  for  the  Sherman  Law,  but  who 
will  claim  the  result  justifies  the  expectation?  Or  who  believes 
that  the  American  Tobacco  Company  will  compete  in  its  con- 
stituent parts  any  more  than  it  did  under  the  single  control. 
It  is  still  a  monopoly  controlled  by  the  same  minds  in  all  its 
parts,  only  now  it  has  the  sanction  of  the  courts.  The  history 
of  the  Standard  Oil  Company  is  still  more  luminous  on  this 
point.  I  sympathize  with  the  public  rather  than  with  the  big 
corporation,  but  believe  the  public  and  the  corporation  should 
co-operate  and  share  the  advantages.  I  believe  this  not  alone 
because  I  think  it  is  best,  but  also  because  I  think  it  is  inevitable 
that  this  will  happen,  or  else  that  we  shall  have  the  big  capitali- 
zation for  the  sole  benefit  of  the  capitalized  and  to  the  detriment 
and  at  the  expense  of  the  public. 


596 

Thomas  Wall  Shelton,  Lawyer,  Norfolk,  Va. 

The  presence  of  watered  stock  in  the  combines  is  evidence  of 
an  intention  to  create  unnatural  and  undeserved  profits.  Pre- 
vention of  overcapitalization  takes  away  the  tool;  prevention  of 
unfair  competition  and  restraint  of  trade  takes  away  the  oppor- 
tunity. 

Combinations  should  be  required  to  sell  at  a  standard  price, 
not  to  be  fixed  by  a  commission,  but  by  themselves.  The  lowest 
price  at  which  they  sell  in  any  one  place  should  be  adopted.  The 
Interstate  Commerce  Commission  applies  this  rule  to  railroads ; 
why  not  let  the  courts  apply  it  to  "  trusts  "  and  large  combines  ? 
It  is  quite  apparent  that  it  would  be  self-enforceable. 

Coupons  and  premiums  and  all  other  devices  actually  giving 
a  rebate  should  be  counted  as  a  discount  and  as  really  fixing  the 
selling  price. 

A  corporation  that  controls  one-third  of  any  commercial  com- 
modity or  article  of  commerce  is  a  menace.  When  an  industry 
becomes  so  big  that  it  has  to  be  regulated,  it  ought  to  be  dealt 
with  as  any  other  danger  to  mankind.  The  necessity  for  "  regu- 
lation" is  an  abnormal  condition.  Let  us  rather  correct  the 
condition. 

Rome  was  not  built  in  a  day !  Its  true  meaning  will  be  de- 
veloped by  the  Supreme  Court  along  the  same  lines  as  has  been 
interstate  commerce  law.  A  congress  of  Solomons  could  not 
enact  statutes  sufficiently  elastic  to  meet  the  changing  conditions 
liable  to  be  created  by  the  geniuses  of  this  century.  As  the  law 
of  commerce  between  the  States  has  been  developed — a  much 
more  difficult  problem — so  will  the  law  of  competitive  relations 
be  defined  and  established  if  the  courts  be  left  alone.  Indi- 
vidual relations  are  now  actively  the  problem,  instead  of  inter- 
state relations,  because  the  law  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest  has 
enabled  combinations  to  kill  competition.  This  is  depredation, 
not  competition.  Deprive  combinations  of  the  power  to  depre- 
date and  they  will  become  as  useless  as  harmless. 

W.  H.  MacKellar,  Secretary  and  Treasurer,  R.  MacKellar's 
Sons  Company,  Peekskill,  N.  Y. 

The  present  disturbed  business  conditions  come  from  general 
discontent.  Too  many  people  wanting  to  get  on  without  work- 
ing. Too  many  looking  to  get  something  for  nothing.  Too 
many  middlemen  trying  to  get  an  easy  living  out  of  the  pro- 
ducers. Overcrowded  towns  and  deserted  farms.  The  persecu- 
tion of  incorporated  business  for  combining  to  raise  prices,  while 
unincorporated  labor  is  allowed  to  combine  to  raise  wages.  Com- 
mon sense  teaches  that  wages  cannot  continually  be  raised  unless 
prices  are  also  raised.  You  cannot  raise  one  end  of  a  stick  with- 
out raising  the  other  and  have  the  stick  level;  so  you  cannot 
keep  prosperity  level  unless  you  raise  the  capital  end  as  well  as 
the  labor  end  in  prices. 


597 

H.  H.  Porter,  Jr.,  President  Chicago  Union  Transfer  Rail- 
way Company,  Chicago,  111. 

Modern  industrial  development  beyond  question  has  made 
large  aggregations  of  capita]  a  necessity,  and  any  attempt  to 
break  down  this  system  and  return  to  the  old  system  of  small 
units  will  be  a  step  backwards.  Before  our  modem  methods  of 
communication  and  transportation,  smaller  combinations  of  cap- 
ital had  just  as  much  control  over,  competition  as  large  combina- 
tions have  now,  their  control,  however,  being  limited  to  smaller 
localities.  Granting  that  large  combinations  are  in  the  line  of 
proper  development,  it  would  seem  that  some  kind  of  govern- 
mental control  or  regulation  is  a  necessity,  as  it  is  always  found 
that  the  power  to  do  the  right  thing  necessarily  involves  the 
power  to  do  the  wrong,  and  some  governmental  agency  for  the 
selection  of  what  is  right  or  wrong  must  be  established.  The 
problem  is  too  new  and  has  received  too  little  study  for  anyone 
to  outline  an  answer  now,  but  I  believe  it  is  becoming  better 
understood,  and  that  we  are  coining  to  the  point  where  a  solu- 
tion is  at  hand.  Careful,  temperate  study  of  this  question  by 
a  great  number  of  people  is  the  only  thing  that  will  lead  to  this 
solution.  I  believe  the  so-called  Anti-Trust  Law  at  present  is 
impossible  of  producing  results. 

G.  L.  Jarnagin,  Farmer,  Shipman,  Miss. 

The  "  present "  disturbed  business  conditions  probably  dis- 
turb one-third  of  the  population  at  the  present.  The  other  two- 
thirds  are  disturbed  all  the  time.  What  this  country  needs  is 
a  more  equal  distribution  of  wealth.  Not  by  giving  it  away, 
but  by  giving  the  opportunity  to  willing  honest  hands  to  earn 
their  rightful  heritage.  It  is  probable  that  a  class  of  shirkers 
will  always  be  in  want  or  depend  on  charity,  but  it  is  a  lament- 
able fact  that  honest  effort  and  willing  and  capable  hands  are 
continually  restricted  in  obtaining  the  comforts  of  life  through 
the  operation  of  complicated  laws,  the  greed  of  corporate  power 
upheld  by  our  courts  and  the  fact  that  no  law-making  body  or 
anyone  interested  or  controlling  our  commercial  and  financial 
system,  who,  under  a  warm  coat  and  plenty  to  eat  and  wear 
regardless  of  which  wray  the  wind  blows,  can  or  does  have  that 
inborn  sympathy  and  brotherly  love  for  the  less  fortunate  that 
will  make  for  a  better  system  to  better  mankind  all  the  way 
down  the  line  to  the  "  least  of  these/' 

D.  J.  Womack,  Lawyer,  Alva,  Okla. 

The  country  is  generally  severely  burdened  with  overlegisla- 
tion  and  want  of  rigid  and  energetic  enforcement  of  law  by 
executive  and  judicial  departments  of  both  State  and  Federal 
governments.  Give  the  people  less  legislation  and  more  effective 
enforcement  of  all  laws,  and  a  greater  respect  for  law  and  order 
and  good  government  will,  it  is  thought,  follow  and  more  stable 
conditions  prevail. 


598 

Edward  Dudley  Kenna,  Lawyer,  retired,  New  York. 

The  present  disturbed  business  conditions  arise  from  specula- 
tion in  lands,  overbuilding  in  advance  of  the  demands  of  our 
population,  an  increase  in  manufacturing  facilities  out  of  pro- 
portion to  the  normal  growth  of  our  commerce,  the  high  cost 
of  living,  largely  due  to  a  protective  tariff  and  the  maintenance 
of  prices  necessary  in  order  to  pay  dividends  on  the  watered 
stocks  issued  by  "the  trusts,"  public  dissatisfaction  with  the 
failure  of  politicians  to  redeem  their  promises  in  respect  to  a 
reduction  of  the  tariff,  and  a  general  feeling  that  the  men  who 
have  organized  the  important  industrial  corporations  have  been 
more  concerned  by  a  desire  to  create  securities  costing  nothing, 
to  be  sold  to  the  public,  than  by  trade  necessities,  and  that  they 
should  be  punished  for  their  defiance  of  plain  laws,  which  has 
arrested  our  normal  growth. 

To  be  brief:  We  have  capitalized  our  developed  resources 
on  the  basis  of  their  probable  future  value;  and  we  are  retard- 
ing the  development  of  our  undeveloped  resources  by  political 
agitations  which  cause  capital  to  remain  in  suspense. 

H.    L.   Scare,   Manager,   Hope   Lumber   Company,    Hope, 
Idaho. 

From  common  talk  it  is  understood  by  95  per  cent,  of  the 
people  that  everything  they  buy  is  sold  them  through  a  trust, 
and  that  the  trust  is  charging  a  great  deal  more  than  the  goods 
are  worth  and  making  an  enormous  profit  therefrom.  This  is 
also  helped  along  by  magazine  articles  and  newspaper  sensa- 
tionalists. The  principal  scheme  to  show  the  unfair  price  is 
to  take  the  cost  at  point  of  manufacture  and  compare  with  the 
retail  price  at  points  most  distant  from  point  of  manufacture, 
thus  losing  sight  of  the  freight  which  on  bulky  goods  is  often 
half  the  final  cost. 

In  addition  to  this  these  people  are  led  to  believe  that  this 
apparent  wrong  is  to  be  righted  and  that  everything,  except  labor 
and  farm  produce,  will  be  much  cheaper,  this  belief  causing  them 
to  buy  as  little  as  possible. 

William  S.  Jenks,  Real  Estate,  Chicago,  111. 

Business  seems  disturbed,  but  not  seriously.  High  rates  of 
interest  have  had  some  effect.  The  innocent  always  suffer  with 
the  guilty  when  dishonest  concerns  are  prosecuted,  especially 
when  they  are  powerful.  Honesty  fears  no  law. 

There  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  men  surviving  in  busi- 
ness who  are  not  using  trust  methods,  and  the  trusts  can  scarcely 
justify  their  existence  by  necessity,  as  the  profits  on  actual  invest- 
ment have  been  too  great  and  most  of  the  constituent  members 
made  money  before  being  merged.  There  are  doubtless  benefits 
to  be  derived  by  economical  production  and  distribution  in 
merging,  but  enormous  profits  should  not  be  wholly  absorbed 
by  the  few  owners  of  the  stocks. 


Lew  C.  Hill,  President,  John  L.  Whiting-J.  J.  Adams  Com- 
pany, Manufacturers,  Boston,  Mass. 

It  would  be  a  great  mistake,  in  our  opinion,  for  labor  as  well 
as  capital,  manufacturers  and  produ«ers  generally,  as  well  as 
consumers,  to  go  back  to  the  old  expensive  methods  of  producing 
goods,  either  growing  them  or  manufacturing  them.  Produc- 
tion to  be  on  the  basis  of  lowest  cost  must  be  in  large  quanti- 
ties, and  at  this  time,  as  labor  is  combined  in  a  large  aggrega- 
tion and  not  always  reasonable  in  its  demands,  such  aggrega- 
tion would  practically  obliterate  manufacturing  business  if  con- 
ducted under  the  old  small  individual  system.  Some  method 
should  be  evolved  by  which  unreasonable  destructive  trusts  could 
be  curbed  and  unreasonable  destructive  labor  organizations  could 
be  curbed  and  allow  products  to  be  produced  at  the  cheapest 
prices.  It  is  also  of  the  greatest  importance  that  the  various 
dealers  and  handlers  of  articles  intermediate  between  production 
and  consumption  should  be  reduced  to  the  minimum,  or  some 
way  this  part  of  handling  goods  should  be  on  a  basis  which 
would  not  add  so  much  to  the  prices  as  they  are  at  present.  The 
difference  between  the  prices  a  manufacturer  and  farmer  or  pro- 
ducer generally  receives  for  his  goods  and  the  prices  which  the 
consumer  pays  in  an  ordinary  way  are  wide  apart  and  should 
be  brought  nearer  together.  The  party  who  is  not  getting  much 
out  of  it  now  in  the  way  of  profit  is  the  producer.  The  pro- 
ducer of  any  kind  of  ware  has  always  been  in  receipt  of  a  small 
percentage  of  profits  for  his  endeavors. 

George    F.    S.    Singleton,    Treasurer,    Singleton    Worsted 
Company,   Franklin,    Mass. 

In  reading  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Tobacco 
and  Standard  Oil  cases,  the  writer  must  state  that  it  seems  very 
lame  indeed  if  the  Sherman  Law  has  got  to  have  some  addition 
written  into  it  by  the  Supreme  Court,  but,  not  being  a  lawyer, 
I  cannot  find  fault  with  those  members  of  the  Supreme  Court 
who  have  spent  a  lifetime  in  the  study  of  law.  Possibly  they 
are  right,  and  the  law  was  wrong.  The  Sherman  Law  and  many 
others  that  we  have  on  our  statute  books  seem  to  have  been 
created  at  a  time  when  temper  had  run  away  with  good  common- 
sense. 

C.  G.  Barkwill,  Banker  and  Manufacturer,  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Disturbed  business  conditions  are  due  to  unsettled  tariff 
laws ;  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  politicians  catering  to  the 
popular  vote  and  cry  of  soak  the  corporations,  and  business  peo- 
ple to  enact  legislation  in  the  way  of  taxation  and  raising  tax 
valuations;  unjust  liability  to  employees  for  injuries;  and,  not 
the  least,  unjust  and  menacing  position  of  trade  unions  which 
are  practically  under  no  responsibility  or  control  financially  or 
their  actions  with  respect  to  property  rights  or  even  human 
lives  when  their  ways  cross. 


600 

L.  S.   Herron,  Editor  "The   Nebraska  Farmer,"   Lincoln, 
Neb. 

Every  great  combination  which  I  can  think  of  has  sprung 
up  under  the  stimulus  o£  some  form  of  special  privilege.  Some- 
times it  has  been  the  tariff;  sometimes  an  internal  revenue  tax 
that  shuts  out  competition ;  sometimes  it  has  been  railroad  rebates 
or  favoritism;  sometimes  it  has  been  monopolization  of  natural 
resources  that  essentially  belong  to  all  the  people.  My  remedy 
for  the  evils  of  combination  that  we  are  trying  to  prevent  by 
legislation  would  be  to  remove  all  special  privileges.  If  neces- 
sary to  do  this  I  would  favor  government  ownership  of  all  NAT- 
URAL monopolies  rather  than  the  commission  method  of  regula- 
tion that  we  are  now  trying  out  with  such  poor  results.  To 
remove  the  special  privilege  of  ownership  and  monopolization  of 
natural  resources  I  would  adopt  the  "  single-tax  "  system,  mak- 
ing all  land  holders  pay  to  society  practically  the  full  rental 
value  of  the  land  occupied  or  held.  That  would  prevent  land 
monopoly  and  would  completely  unhorse  such  combines  as  the 
steel  trust  and  the  Standard  Oil  Company.  Aside  from  natural 
monopolies  I  believe  in  competition,  unrestrained  and  un- 
jughandled.  It  is  the  only  natural  system. 

William  Waterall,  President,  Pittsburgh  &  Philadelphia  Oil 
&   Refining   Company,   Philadelphia,   Pa. 

The  genius  of  the  American  people  is  instinctively  opposed 
to  such  powers  as  were  exercised  by  the  feudal  barons,  or  those 
that  are  being  exercised  by  the  modern  type  of  baron  in  viola- 
tion of  law.  It  appears  to  me  that  the  greatest  need  of  the 
nation  to-day  is  consecrated  legal  talent  that  will  protect  the 
nation  against  any  power  that  will  attempt  to  use  the  sacred 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  infringe  upon  the  rights 
of  the  people  to  govern  this  nation,  by  the  people  and  for  the 
people,  by  enacting  and  enforcing  just  laws.  The  cupidity  of 
man  has  inflamed  the  passions  of  the  people.  It  will  require 
wisdom  to  calm  and  pacify  it.  May  we  not  hope  that  the  worst 
is  over,  and  that  it  is  possible  for  the  executive  of  the  nation, 
Congress,  the  owners  of  the  trusts  and  their  great  corporation 
lawyers  and  the  manufacturers  to  get  closer  together  and  be 
more  neighborly  and  reasonable  with  each  other,  so  that  our 
children  and  future  generations  will  rise  up  and  call  us  blessed. 

Muncie  Gas  Engine  &  Supply  Company,  John  W.  Smith, 
Treasurer,  Muncie,  Ind, 

The  average  American  citizen  has  the  conviction  that  legisla- 
tion for  the  last  25  years  has  been  dictated  and  controlled  by 
what  is  generally  known  as  big  business.  Now  that  they  are 
not  allowed  to  proceed  as  of  old,  they  call  a  halt.  Hence  the 
present  slump  in  business.  Go  on  in  the  good  work.  If  it 
causes  a  panic,  well  and  good,  then  begin  over. 


601 

Charles  L.  Bernheimer,  Cotton  Goods  Merchant,  New 
York. 

To  compel  a  competitor  to  sell  out  by  creating  conditions 
unbearable  to  him  is  wrong — belongs  to  the  age  when  might  was 
right. 

However,  to  buy  the  business  of  a  competitor  by  correct 
methods  is  not  wrong. 

There  is  a  sphere  of  "  Daemmerlicht "  between  the  two  which 
should  be  clarifiable  by  a  bureau  of  the  national  government 
which,  by  its  charter,  would  give  a  clean  bill  of  health  and 
whose  license  would  carry  with  it  the  confidence  that  in  ninety- 
nine  cases  out  of  one  hundred  its  ruling  is  sound. 

No  sane  man  can  be  expected  to  invest  money  when  long- 
drawn-out  litigation,  expensive  to  him  and  to  the  State,  is  the 
only  method  of  finding  out  whether  he  is  right  or  wrong. 

William  J.  Gilthorpe,  Secretary-Treasurer,  International 
Brotherhood  of  Boilermakers,  Iron  Shipbuilders  and 
Helpers  of  America,  Kansas  City,  Mo. 

In  my  humble  way,  I  would  say  that  from  the  long-continued 
monopoly  of  great,  big  business,  capital  has  been  intrenched 
until  now  the  masters  of  finance  in  this  country,  which  are  very 
few,  manipulate  all  forms  of  business,  the  government  included. 
Restrictions  must  be  placed  on  one,  two  or  five  men  controlling 
the  destinies  of  this  great  and  glorious  country,  as  I  believe  a 
few  men  can  make  a  panic  in  five  minutes  that  it  would  take 
years  to  obliterate  under  the  general  mode  of  doing  business 
to-day.  A  revolution  is  sure  to  come  if  restrictions  are  not 
placed  on  the  captains  of  finance,  from  agitating  the  country 
whenever  they  please. 

Cheney  Bros.,  Silk  Manufacturers,  South  Manchester, 
Conn. 

Tariff  disturbance  especially  and  in  general  the  uncertainty 
in  regard  to  legislation  affecting  business  and  the  apparent  drift 
towards  a  Democratic  administration  are  the  causes  of  business 
disturbance. 

Probably  new  legislation  is  necessary.  This  should  be  in  the 
form  of  new  acts,  as  we  cannot  afford  to  lose  what  ground  we 
have  gained  in  interpreting  the  Sherman  Act. 

O.  P.  Smith,  Cigarmaker,  Logansport,  Ind. 

I  am  in  favor  of  permitting  the. farmer  to  hold  his  crops 
for  higher  prices  and  do  other  public  injustice,  but  this  is  -only 
because  the  trusts  and  other  illegal  and  unnatural  combina- 
tions in  restraint  of  trade  are  allowed  to  do  about  as  tliey  will. 
It  is  for  this  very  reason  that  I  object  to  the  Sherman  Act  being 
applied  to  trades  unions.  The  Sherman  Anti-Trust  Law  is  a 
"  joke."  I  doubt  very  much  the  sincerity  of  the  present  national 
administration  in  their  supposed  opposition  to  trusts. 


602 

R.   O.    Green,   Secretary,   Green-Wheeler   Shoe   Company, 
Ft.  Dodge,  la. 

The  present  disturbed  business  conditions  arise  from  poli- 
tics and  the  movement  against  trusts.  If  legitimate  business  is 
not  disturbed  by  indiscriminate  .action  by  the  government  against 
good  and  bad  combinations  and  the  government  does  not  per- 
mit itself  to  be  used  by  designing  persons  against  proper  and 
beneficial  combinations  of  capital  whose  business  is  advantageous 
to  the  whole  nation,  then  the  movement  will  result  in  good  and 
lasting  benefit.  There  is  where  I  fear  the  government  will  mak,e 
a  mistake.  For  instance,  their  action  against  the  United  States 
Machinery  Company  is  wholly  wrong,  detrimental  to  the  whole 
people  and  greatly  discouraging  to  the  small  shoe  manufacturer. 
The  ultimate  result  of  the  government  action,  if  successful,  will 
be  the  elimination  of  the  smaller  shoe  factories,  the  blighting 
of  the  development  of  the  shoe  industry  by  precluding  the  pos- 
sibility of  the  small  capitalist  entering  the  business  as  they  are 
now  encouraged  to  do. 

Enos  M.  Barton,  Fanner,  Chicago,  111. 

Under  the  stimulus  of  excessive  tariff  protection  and  normal 
growth  of  population,  manufacturing  facilities  have  attained  an 
abnormal  development;  prices  to  the  ultimate  consumer  have 
become  abnormally  high,  resulting  in  the  necessity  of  higher 
wages,  until  production  of  manufactured  articles  and  distribu- 
tion have  reached  abnormal  volumes,  and  a  readjustment  has 
become  necessary.  Manufacturers  of  protected  articles  and 
middlemen  generally  will  have  to  be  contented  with  smaller 
returns. 

Warner   Van  Norden,  Retired  Banker,  New  York. 

I  think  the  government  has  been  harsh  and  unwise  in  its 
prosecution  of  corporations.  On  a  question  of  veracity  a  gentle- 
man says,  "Are  you  not  mistaken  ?  "  A  boor  says,  "  You  are  a 
liar ! "  So  the  government  might  push  some  things  in  a  less 
spectacular  and  harsh  way.  I  think  the  attorney  general  has 
made  a  grave  mistake  and  has  seriously  injured  the  President's 
prospects  for  re-election.  All  nations  have  found  that  undue 
interference  with  business  is  a  mistake.  When  a  fair  competition 
is  allowed,  it  will  always  take  care  of  eve^thing  else. 

Crocker   Grocery   Company,  Wilkes-Barre,  Pa. 

The  present  disturbed  business  conditions  arise  from  (1) 
high  prices  of  labor  forced  up  by  the  unions;  (2)  shortening  of 
hours  by  the  government  and  unions  and  others.  For  the  good 
of  the  greatest  number  there  should  be  a  legal  day  of,  say,  ten 
hours  for  labor  where  no  agreement  is  made  between  the  con- 
tracting parties,  but  all  should  be  free  to  agree  on  the  hours  for 
a  day.  The  law  of  supply  and  demand  should  govern  all  com- 
modities in  regard  to  prices,  including  prices  of  labor  and  hours 
ol  labor,  where  the  contracting  parties  desire  to  fix  hours. 


INDEX  TO  CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Abbot,  Abiel  J.,  Graniteville, 
Mass 62 

Abbott,  H.  ,S.,  iStamford,  Tex.    90 

Aberdeen  Mill  Co.,  Aberdeen, 
So.  Dak 137 

Ackerman  &  Brummel,  Bos- 
ton      129 

Adams,   A.    E.,   Youngstown, 
Ohio    178 

Adams,  Byron   S.,  Washing- 
ton,  D.   C 419 

Adams  Co.,  C.  F.,  Erie,  Pa.  .313 

Adams,    T.    A.,    'New    York 
and  Jersey  City,  N.   J...  152 

Adams,  T.  &.,  Madison,  Wis.  491 

Adt,  John  B.  Baltimore 91 

Agger,  Eugene  E.,  Columbia 
University,  N.  Y 364 

Agnew  &   Co.,    Port   Henry, 
N.  Y.,  .and  Boston 311 

Aiken,  E.  Clarence,  Auburn, 
N.  Y 452 

Ainsworth,     Harry,     Moline, 
111 136 

Aisthorpe,  J.  .S.,  Cairo,  111..  246 

Alabastine  Company,   Grand 
Rapids,  Mich 89 

Albers.  Henry,  Portland,  Ore.  156 

Albright,    H.   A.,   Columbus, 
Miss 351 

Alderson,  Victor  C.,  Golden, 
Col 424 

Alexander,  A.,  New  York...     20 

Alexander,  O.  G.,  Corona,  N. 
Y 220 

Allegheny    .Steel    Co.,    Pitts- 
burgh, Pa 58 

Allen,  A.  D.,  Louisville,  Ky.  238 

Allen,   iStephen    H.,   Topeka, 
Kan 450 

Allen  &  Co.,  .S.  L.,  Philadel- 
phia      331 

Allen,     Willis     C.,     Kansas 
City,  Mo 271 

Alward,     H.     V.,     Kalispell, 
Mont 213 

Ament,  O.  N.,  Aurora,  111..  354 

American  Pad  &  Textile  Co., 
Greenfield,  Ohio   48 

American   Trust   &    Savings 
Co.,  The,  'Springfield,   O..  265 

American     Untisel,     Editor, 
Calumet,  Mich 415 


PAGE 

Amory,      John      J.,      Morris 

Heights,    New   York 82 

Anderson,    H.    B.,    Memphis, 

Tenn 450 

Anderson,  O.  F.,  Moline,  111.  211 
Anderson,    W.    B.,    Calumet, 

Mich 193 

Anti-Kalsomine    Co.,    Grand 

Rapids,  Mich 89 

Archer,  W.  T.,  (Sheffield,  Ala.  85 
.Archibald,  E.  H.,  Lawrence, 

'Mass 36 

Armleder,    Otto,   Cincinnati.  128 
Armour,   M.   Cochrane,   Chi- 
cago         32 

Arms,  M.  I.,  Youngstown,  O.  110 
Armstrong   &    Graham,    De- 
troit,  Mich 42 

Aronson,  A.  Sv  New  York.  315 
Arthurs,  W.  C.,  Mt  Vernon, 

111 160 

Ashley    &    Bailey    Co.,    The, 

New    York 83 

Atkinson,   Fred.   W.,   Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y 423 

Attleboro   Chain   Co.,    Attle- 

boro,   Mass 167 

Atwood,     F.     J.,     Concordia, 

Kian 200 

Atwood,  John  C.,  St.  Louis.  114 
Atwood,  L.  R.,  Louisville, 

Ky 317 

Aubrey,  H.  M.,  San  Antonio, 

Tex 445 

Augusta    Lumber    Co.,    Au- 
gusta, Me 170 

Ault,  L.  A.,  Cincinnati 137 

Austin,  D.  E.,  New  York ...  295 
Auston,  J.  R.  T.,  Philadelphia  355 
Aycock,  Thos.  J.,  Aycock, 

Fla 99 

Ayres,  F.  C.,  Boston 134 

Ayers,  W.  B.,  Portland,  Ore.     58 

Bagley   &  iSewall    Co.,   The, 

Watertown,  N.  Y 119 

Bailey,     E.     L.,     Hoopeston, 

111 411 

Bailey,  Frank,  Brooklyn,  N.Y.  265 
Bailey,  Hollis  R.,  Boston...  459 
Baker,  Chas.  Whiting,  New 

York    391 

Bake,  O.  M.,  Hamilton,  O..  204 


603 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Baker,  Wakefield,  'Sail  Fran- 
cisco      102 

Baker,  Win.  L.,  'Sioux  Falls, 

So.    Dak 264 

Baldwin,   'Summer field,    Bal- 
timore       144 

Balfe,  Thomas  F.,  Newburgh, 

N.   Y 270 

Ball,     Dan     H.,     .Marquette, 

Mich 444 

Bancroft,  Edward  S.,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y 201 

Bannard,  Henry  C.,  Chicago.  142 
Barber,  James  T.,  Eau  Claire, 

Wis 102 

Barbey,  John,  Reading,  Pa..  2&» 
Barkwill,  C.  G.,  Cleveland,  O.  599 
Barlow,  DeWitt  D.,  New 

York 253 

Barnard,  Geo.  D.,  St.  Louis.  27 
Barnard,  'Simons,  Boston....  00 

Barnes,  Cecil,  Chicago 455 

Barnes,  Clifford  W.,  Chicago  417 
Barrett,  J.  O.,  Joliet,  111...  326 
Barrett,  Thomas  W.,  Pough- 

keepsie,   N.  Y 271 

Barron,  A.  N.,  Cleveland,  O.     52 

Bartlett,  A.   C.,  Chicago 277 

Bartol,  G.,  Cleveland,  O 34 

Barton,  Enos  M.,  Chicago...  602 
Bascoin,  Joseph  D.,  St.  Louis  139 
Bashinsky,  L.  M.,  Troy,  Ala.  193 
Baumeister,  E.,  Asotin, 

Wash 272 

Baumgart,  I.,  Chicago 153 

Bay  State  Belting  Co.,  Bos- 
ton       128 

Beach,  S.  H.,  Rome.  N.  Y...  247 
Beall,  Chas.  L.,  East  Alton. 

Ill Ill 

Becker,  G.  L.,  Ogden,  Utah.  33 
Beebe.  L.  A.,  iHutchinson, 

Kan 471 

Beer,  Paul,  Des  Moines,  la.  107 
Beidler,  Francis,  Chicago...  439 
Bell,  'Samuel  R.,  Larchmont, 

IN.  Y lor, 

Bell.  Ovid,  Fulton.   Mo 414 

Bellamy,    E.    C.,    Mammoth 

Spring,  Ark.  .1 144 

Beller,  Win.  F.,  New  York..  422 
Belleville  Trades  and  Labor 

Assembly.  Belleville.  Ill 300 

Benedict,  James,  New  York.  287 
Bennett,  A.  W..  Chickasha. 

Okla 356 

Bennett.  Z.  P.,  Wilkes-barre. 

Pa 302 

Benson,  W.  .S..  New  York...     21 


PAGE 

Bent,  C.  L.,   Gardner,  Mass.  101 
Bentley,   Robt.,   Youngstowii, 

0 23 

Beretta,  J.  K.,  Laredo,  Tex.  231 
Bergen,       Frank,       Newark, 

N.    J 432 

Bernheimer,  Charles  L..  New 

York 601 

Bessemer    Gas    Engine    Co., 

The,  Grove  City,  Pa 130 

Betts,    George   T.,    Ashburn, 

Ga 1(55 

Bigelow,  John,  New   York.  .  :>s:; 
Bigelow,    W.    J.,    St.    Johns- 
bury,    Vt 427 

Bigger,    L.    A.,    Hutchinson, 

Kan 259 

Bilgram,  Hugo,  Philadelphia     27 
Binghani,    Stillman    H.,    Du.- 

luth,    Minn 424 

Bissell's,       Grand       Rapids, 

Mich 85 

Black,  C.  P.,  Lansing,  Mich.  456 
Black,  ig.  J.,  Beaumont,  Tex.     10 
Blackburn,  M.  L.,  Bellaire,  O.     44 
Blackmar,    Frank   W.,   Law- 
rence, Kan 421 

Blackstock,    I.  B.,  Springfield, 

111 467 

Blair,     C.     Arthur,     Apache, 

Okla 136 

Blair,  W.  A.,  Atchison,  Kan.     44 
Blake,  E.  Nelson.  Arlington, 

Mass 175 

Blake,    Eugene,    -Sweetwater. 

Tenu 417 

Blake  Bros.  &  'Co..  Boston .  . .  260 
Blanc-hard,   ('has.    A..   Whea- 

ton.  111 373 

Blesse,    F.    Y..    Eagle    Pass. 

Tex 247 

Bliiin.  A.  <\.  Evansville.  Ind.     47 
Rlish.  Jas.  K.,  Kewanee.  111.   2m 
Blish,  Mixe  &  iSilliman  Hard- 
ware €o.,  Atchison.  Kan..   316 
Blodgett,     John    W..    Grand 

Rapids.  Mich 326 

Bloom    Bros.    &    Co..    Cincin- 
nati         45 

Bloomfield.    C.    C..    Jackson. 

Mich 257 

Bloss.  .Tnmes  O..  iNew  York.   3410 
Bode.     Joseph     P...     Chelsea. 

Mass 359 

Hoggs.  Thomas  G..  Baltimore  4<54 
Roelinken.  E.  PL.  St.  Louis..   10S 
Boggs&  Buhl,  Pittsburgh.  Pa.  326 
Bonn.     Gebhard.     (St.     Paul, 
Minn.  .    158 


604 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Boker,  Carl  F.,  New  York..  314 
Bolinan,  R.  O.,  Coffeyville, 

Kan 332 

Bolt,  Frank  C.,  Pasadena, 

Cal 246 

Booch.  L.  H.,  St.  Louis 159 

Borden,  Seth  A.,  Fall  River, 

(Mass. 160 

Boston,  Chas.  A.,  New  York.  429 
Bostwick-Braun  Co.,  The., 

Toledo,  Ohio  307 

Bo  wen,  E.  S.,  Pawtucket, 

R.  1 312 

Bowen  &  Co.,  .E.  W.,  -Delphi, 

Ind 261 

Bowen,  Jos.  T.,  Jr.,  Chicago.  181 
Bowen,  L.,  Birmingham,  Ala.  356 

Boynton,  F.  P.,  'Chicago 149 

Brace,  J.  18.,  Seattle,  Wash . .  123 
Bradley,  G.  J.,  'Sacramento, 

Cal 406 

Bradt,  S.  E.,  DeKalb,  111 198 

Bragg,  C.  F.,  Bangor,  Me. . .  73 
Brainerd,  F.  A.,  New  York. .  35 
Brandenstein  &  Co.,  M.  J., 

San  Francisco 325 

Brandt,  (Ralph  V.,  Cleve- 
land, Ohio 342 

Bray,  Sims,  Atlanta,  Ga 316 

Brecht  Company,  The,  /St. 

Louis  152 

Breckinridge,  C.  R.,  Fort 

Smith,  Ark.  177 

Brentano,  August,  iEvansville, 

Ind 166 

Breslin,  T.  J.,  Freehold,  N.  J.  74 

Brett,  J.  A.,  Oncinnati 171 

BrWgman,  H.  L..  Brooklyn, 

N.  Y 411 

Bridgman,  John  C.,  Wilkes- 

Barre,  Pa 23 

Briggs,  Frank  N.,  Denver 

Colo.  205 

Brittain,  John  /S.,  St.  Joseph, 

Mo 317 

Brix,  P.  J.,  Oneida,  Wash..  145 
Brockhausen,  Fred.,  Milwau- 
kee, Wis 340 

Brodhead,  Jas.  E.,  Fleming- 
ton,  N.  J 280 

Bronson  &  Nichols,  Thomas, 

Okla 425 

Brooker,  Chas.  F.,  Ansonia, 

Conn 22 

Brooks,  A.  W.,  Natick,  Mass.  145 
Brooks,  T.  J..  Atwood,  Tenn.  425 
Brosius,  J.  H.,  Avondale,  Pa.  233 
Brower,  Chas.  E.,  Memphis, 

Tenn.  19 


PAGE 

Brown,  C.  A.,  Marfa,  Tex...   220 
Brown,     Dickson     Q.,     New 

York    140 

Brown,     George     R.,     Little 

Rock,  Ark 472 

Brown,  J.  Eugene,  Farming- 
ton,  Maine   425 

Brown,     Lewis     V.,     Athens, 

Ohio 108 

Brown,  P.  A.,  Lynn,  Mass..     80 
!   Brown.     Walston     H.,     New 

York    270 

'   Bro'wn,    Win.    Garrott,   Ashe- 

i       ville,   N.   C 400 

Brown,  Win.  L.,  Chicago 163 

I  Brown.  W.  T.,  Marseilles,  111.  358 
I  Brown.    Alexander,    &    Sons, 

Baltimore   192 

I  Brown     Bros..     Rhineiander. 

Wis 145 

I  Brown  &  Adams,  Boston....  313 
I  Browne,   Aldis   B.,  Washing- 
ton,  D.  C 448 

Browne,    E.    W.,    Shreveport, 

La 451 

Browne.     F.     P..     Bay    City, 

Mich 244 

Brownell,  C.  II..  Peru.  Ind..   258 
Brumbaugh.  I.  Harvey,  Hun- 
tingdon, Pa 419 

Bryant,    W.    C..    Bridgeport, 

Conn 168 

Bryden.  A.  A..  Pittston,  Pa.   241 
Bucher,      P.     M..     Syracuse. 

N.  Y 164 

Bucholz,  W.  H.,  Omaha,  Neb.  221 
Buchwalter,  Edw.  L.,  iSpring- 

field,  Ohio 46 

Buckingham,    Clarence,    Chi- 
cago      211 

Buckner,  A.  D.,  Paris,  Mo ...  235 
Builders'  Iron  Foundry.  Prov- 
idence, R.  1 109 

Bulkley,  Dunton  &  Co.,  New 

|       York 279 

]  Bullock.   H.   E.,   Chicago 61 

Burgess,    F.   (E.,    Burlington, 

Vt 269 

i  Burke,   James,   Erie,   Pa 164 

Burley,  Clarence  A.,  Chicago  461 
Burlington    Drug    Co.,    Bur- 
lington,   V,t. 300 

Burns,  Edward,  -New  York..   262 
Burns,   Walter  J.,   Portland, 

Ore 270 

:  Burroughs,  C.  F.,  Norfolk,  Va.    122 

1  Burt,  M.  C.,  Chester,  Pa 387 

'•   Burton.  Geo.  W.,  La  Crosse. 

i       Wis 266 


605 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 


Burton,  P.  E.,  Joplin,  Mo...  417 
Bushnell,  M.  W.,  Thompson- 
ville,  Conn  ...............  127 

Busiel  &  'Co.,  J.  W.,  Laconia, 


N. 


17 


Butler,  M.  a,  Fairfax,  iWash.  126 
Butler,  Wm.  H.,  New  York.  487 
Butman,  'L.  M.,  Jamestown, 

N.  Y  ....................   144 

Butte  Inter-Mountain,  The, 

Butte,  Mont  .............  382 

Butterfield,  C.  S.,  Norfield, 


Miss. 


147 


Cadogan,  C.,  Horne^,  N.  Y . .  242 

Cain,  D.  M.,  Atehison,  Kan. .     98 

Cain,  Jas.  W.,  Chestertown, 
Md.  390 

Caldwell,  R.  G.,  Wooster, 
Onio  426 

Caldwell,  R.  J.,  New  York. .  304 

Caldwell,  T.  B.,  Mt.  Pleas- 
ant, Tex 203 

Calhoun,  John  E.,  Cornwall, 
Conn 473 

Galloway,  Eugene  C.,  Atlan- 
ta, Ga 184 

Calvin,  John,  Kansas  City, 
Mo 90 

Cameron,  John  M.,  Erie, 
Kan 151 

Campbell,  G.  W.,  Marlington, 
W.  Va 142 

Campbell,  James,  'Seattle, 
Wash 330 

Campbell,  J.  A.,  Youngstown, 
Ohio  158 

Campbell,  J.  W.,  Fort  Dodge, 
Iowa  212 

Campbell,  W.  B.,  Cincinnati.     12 

Camper,  M.  W.,  Florence, 
Ala 408 

Canada,  J.  W.,  Houston,  Tex.  414 

Canz,  Albert,  Washington, 
D.  C 146 

Cardwill,  George  B.,  New  Al- 
bany, Ind.  465 

Carmichael,  Norman,  Clifton, 
Ariz 33 

Carner,  Wm.  W.,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y 389 

Carpenter,  C.  W.,  North  At- 
tleboro,  Mass 183 

Carpenter  Dunbar  F.,  Colo- 
rado Springs,  Colo 436 

Carpenter,  Geo.  O.,  iSt.  Louis.  138 

Carpenter,  Percy.  Lancaster, 
Pa.  .  360 


PAGE 

Carr,  Clyde  Mitchell,  Chi- 
cago   320 

Carson,  Wm.,  Burlington,  la.  225 

Carter,  Fred.  L.,  Boston 331 

Carter,  Horace  A.,  Needham 
Heights,  Mass 130 

Carter,  John  J.,  Titus  ville, 
Pa 22 

Carter  &  Co.,  J.  Q.,  DeLand, 
111 329 

Carter,  Richard  B.,  East 
Cambridge,  Mass 154 

Carter,  W.  'S.,  Peoria,  111...  335 

Carty,  J.  W.  L.,  Frederick, 
Mid 250 

Carver,  T.  N. ,  Cambridge, 
Mass 380 

Case,  Clarence  M.,  Oskaloo- 
sa,  Iowa  378 

Case  Threshing  Machine  Co., 
J.  I.,  Racine,  Wis 101 

Case,  W.  W.,  Detroit,  Mich.     28 

Caswell,  G.  W.,  Fort  Atkin- 
son, Wis 71 

Central  Labor  Council,  The, 
(Los  Angeles,  Cal 339 

Chaffee,  A.  W.,  Moodus, 
Conn 131 

Chaffee  Bros.  Co.,  Oxford, 
Mass 32 

Chalmers,  F.  H.,  iSalem,  Va.  252 

Chamberlain,  D.  S.,  Des 
Moines,  Iowa  61 

Chamberlain,  Robert  L.,  New 
York 320 

Ohamberlin,  'E.,  .New  York..  333 

Chamberlin,  Emerson,  New 
York  267 

Chambers,  Albert  N..  New 
York 81 

Chambers,  Frank  R.,  NCAV 
York 295 

Chandler,  H.  A.  E  .  Tucson, 
Ariz 389 

Chapman,  Frank,  Ogdens- 
burg,  IN.  Y 213 

Chapman,  Robert,  McColl, 
S.  C 72 

Chapman,  T.  S.,  Jerseyville, 
111 207 

Chappell,  Delos  A.,  Los  An- 
geles, Cal 65 

Charles,  David  J.,  Butte. 
Mont 178 

Charleston  Consolidated  Rail- 
way and  Lighting  Co., 
The,  Charleston,  S.  C 158 

Chase,  George  C.,  Lewiston, 
Maine  ...  .  414 


606 


INDEX. 


PAGE 

Chase  &  Barstow,  Boston ...  188 
Chattanooga  Coffin  &  iCasket 

Co.,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. . .  161 
Chatten,  /S.  H.,  Kansas  City, 

iMo 286 

Cheney    Bros.,    .South    Man- 
chester, Conn 601 

Cheboygan   Paper   Co.,   Che- 

•boygan,  (Mich 113 

Chester,  W.  R.,  Boston 294 

Chicago  Stove  and  Range  'Co., 

Chicago  318 

Childs,  C.  Frederick,  Chicago  244 
Ohilds,  W.  H,,  New  York...  132 
Choate,  Herbert  E.,  Atlanta, 

Ga 54 

Christian,  George  H.,  Minne- 
apolis, JMinn 157 

Clark,  Carl  B.,  Gallipolis,  O.  414 

Clark,  C.  M.,  New  York 254 

Clark,     D.     C.,     Ellensburg, 

Wash 214 

Clark,  John  iS.,  Philadelphia.    56 
Clark  iBros.   Bolt  Co.,   Mill- 
dale,  Conn 129 

Clarke,  E.  A.  S.,  New  York.  9 
Clarke,  R.  F.,  Independence, 

Iowa    251 

Clough  &  Co.,  A.  F.,  Canova, 

iS.  D 330 

Clow,  F.  R.,  Oshkosh,  Wis. . .  419 

Clow,  James  C.,  Chicago 153 

Coffin,    George    G.,    Boston.    33 

I.  S.  Coffin,  New  York 316 

Coffin,  W.  E.,  Des  Moines,  la.  192 
Colby,  Carl,  iAbbotsford, 

Wis 306 

Collett,  Geo.  R.,  iSt  Clair  Co., 

Ill 153 

Collins,     C.      E.,      Methuen, 

Mass 94 

Collins,  Justus,  Cincinnati..  104 
Collins,  T.  D.,  Nebraska,  Pa.  209 
Collins,   Darrah  &  Co.,   Ne- 
braska, Forest  Co.,  Pa 321 

Collord,  Geo.  W.,  New  York.  309 
Coman,  'Seymour,  Chicago . .  271 
Comstock,  J.  M.,  Spokane, 

Wash 310 

Conant,   Levi  L.,  Worcester, 

Mass.    426 

Conkling,   F.   T.,    Greenville, 

Ohio  250 

Conlin,  F.,  Elizabeth,  iN.  J..  493 
Connellsville  Central  Coke 

Co.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa 38 

Conner,  John  B.,  Indianapo- 
lis, Ind 422 


PAGE 

Cook,    Edgar   ,S.,    Pottstown, 

Pa 99 

Coolidge,    T.    Jefferson,   Jr., 

Boston   273 

Coombe   &   Co.,   T.    G.,    New 

York    249 

Coombs,  E.  H.,  Morgantown, 

W.   Va 260 

Corlett,  J.  E.,  Seattle,  Wash.  95 
Corning,  H.  W.,  Cleveland, 

Ohio 97 

Corning  &  Co.,  Peoria,  111 . .  151 
Couzens,  Jas.,  Detroit,  Mich.  113 
Covil,  W.  J.,  Webster  City, 

Iowa    256 

Covington,    R.    Y.,    Jackson- 
ville, Fla 308 

Cowdery,   W.  iH.,  Cleveland, 

Ohio    ,..  156 

Cox,  Charles  F.,  New  York.  180 
Orabbs,  G.  D.,  Cincinnati ...  69 
Crabtree,  Ike  W.,  'Memphis, 

Tenn 454 

Crafts,  G.  E.,  Bangor,  Me. .  103 

Cragin,  J.  A.,  Joplin,  Mo 254 

Cramer,  Ambrose,  Lake  For- 
est,  111 266 

Cramer,  F.  Ernest,  'St.  Louis  266 
Cramer,  L.  PL,  'Saratoga 

(Springs,  N.  Y 154 

Crane,  Clinton,  Cincinnati . .     73 
Cranford,    Fred.    L.,    Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y 124 

Cranford,    W.    V.,    Brooklyn, 

N.  Y 152 

Crary,  J.  D.,  New  York 394 

Crawford,  R.  iS.,  St.  Louis. .  13 
Crawford,  W.  A.,  Erie,  Pa..  97 
Crews,  W.  D.,  (Murphysboro, 

111 404 

Crist,    Arthur    H.,    Coopers- 
town,  N.  Y 400 

Crocker    Grocery    Company, 

Wilkes-Barre,  Pa 602 

Crockett,  Wm.  M.,  Lafayette, 

Ind 446 

Cromwell,    James    W.,    New 

York 298 

Crosby    Frederick    W.,    Chi- 
cago      248 

Grouse,  George  N.,  Syracuse, 

IN.  Y 290 

Cudahy,  Patrick,  Milwaukee, 

Wis 28 

Culver,  J.  F.,  Louisiana,  Mo.  473 
Curtis,  Chalmers,  Petoskey, 

Mich 255 

Curtis,     L.     B.,     Bridgeport, 
Conn 169 


607 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Cushman,  B.  B.,  Detroit 
Mich 283 

Cushman,  'Seth  L.,  Taunton, 
Mass 207 

Custis,  Vanderveer,  Seattle, 
Wash.  371 

Daley,  A.  F.,  Temrille,  Ga. . .  239 

Dalzell.   S.   M.,  Chicago 167 

Dalzell,   W.    A.    B.,    Mounds- 

ville,   W.   Va 70 

Darling  Fertilizer  Co.,  L.  B., 

Pawtueket,  R.  I 35 

Darlington,  E.  R.,  'St.  Louis.  84 
Davenport,  H.  J..  Columbia, 

Mo . 378 

David,  C.   K.,   Baton  Rouge, 

La 306 

Davidson,  C.  O.,  Boise,  Idaho  294 
Davidson,  O.  C..  Iron  Moun- 
tain,   Mich 238 

Davis,     Austen,     Salt     Lake 

City,  Utah   349 

Davis.  George  W.,   St.  'Paul. 

Minn 365 

Davis,  Horace.  San  Fran- 
cisco   305 

Davis.     Warren    J.,    Racine. 

Wis  °02 

Davis,  Willis.  Wichita,  Kan!  324 
Davis  (Sewing  Machine  Co., 

The,  Dayton.  Ohio 109 

Da  vol.  Chas.  J.,  Providence, 

R.    1 157 

Dawson,    A.    F.,    Davenport, 

Iowa    262 

Day.  Albert  M.,  Lake  Forest, 

111 285* 

Day,  R.  N.,  New  Orleans,  La.     44 
Dayton,    George    D.,   Minne- 
apolis, .Minn 302 

Dean,    Marvin   A.,    Chicago.  482 
DeBra,  H.  R.,  Cameron,  Mo.  387 
Decker,    Jean   P.,    Big   Tim- 
ber.  Mont 403 

DeForest,  Geo,  Utica,  N.  Y.  164 
Defrees,  Joseph  H.,  Chicago.  460 
Delano,  Frederic  A.,  Chicago  178 
Deming,  Win.  B.,  New  York.  331 
Demorest,  Wan.  C.,  New  York  228 
Denison,  L.  'E.,  Cairo,  111 ...  291 
Denman,  Frank  H.,  Peta- 

luma,  Cal 274 

Dennis,  W.  B.,  Carlton,  Ore.  31 
DeRosier,  W.  H.,  Hudson 

Falls.  N.  Y 404 

Despard,  W.  D.,  New  York . .  239 


PAGE 

Devlin,  Thos.,  Philadelphia . .  106 
Dewey,  V.  F.,  Grand  Rapids, 

Mich Ill 

Dewey    Brothers    Co.,    The, 

Blanchester,   0 321 

Dexter,     Fred     A.,     Orange, 

Mass 254 

Dexter,  Henry  C.,  Pawtucket, 

R.    I Ill 

Dibert,  Stark  &  Brown  Cyp- 
ress    Co.,     Ltd.,     Donner, 

La 171 

Diokerman,   W.    B.,    Mainar- 

oneck,    N.    Y 470 

Diegel,  Henry,  Atchison,  Kan  108 
Diehl,    Geo    Paxton,   Cincin- 
nati      135 

Dillon,    C.    W.,    Fayetteville, 

W.  Va 461 

Dillon,  William,  Chicago 461 

Dimock,  Ira,  Florence,  Mass.     66 
Dinkins,  Lynn  H.,   New  Or- 
leans,   La 204 

Dinwiddie,   William,   Clarks- 

ville,  Term 363 

Dodge,    James  M.,   Philadel- 
phia      127 

Dodge,  Philip  T.,  New  York.  132 
Dohme,  A.  R.  L.,  Baltimore.  56 
Dold,  Jacob,  Packing  Co., 

Buffalo,  N.  Y 159 

Donovan,   J.   J.,   Bellingham, 

Wash. 106 

Doster,    J.    T..    Birmingham. 

Ala 333 

Doten.  Carroll  W.,  Boston. .  368 
Doty.  Ethan  Allen,  New  York  119 
Douglass.  William  Harris, 

New  York    290 

Douglas.    W.    &    B.,    Middle- 
town,  Conn 161 

Dovenmuenle,    H.    F.    C.,    $ 

Son.  Chicago   329 

Dowling,  H.  P.,  Harlan,  la..  263 
Downey.  A.,  Ogdensburg,  N. 

Y 346 

Downs,   Frank   B.,   Philadel- 
phia      325 

Draper,     C.     H.,     Hopedale, 

Worcester  Co.,  Mass 87 

Drury,    E.   'S..    Encampment, 

Wyo 405 

Dnmont,  C.  W.,  New  York .  .  78 
Dueber  Watch  Case  Mfg. 

Co.,  The,  Canton,  0 160 

Dunbar.     John     G.,     LL.B., 

New  York   21 

Duncan,  Jas.,  Quincy,  Mass . .  337 
Duncker.  C.  H.,  iSt.  Louis..  110 


608 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Dunham,  Sylvester  C.,  Hart- 
ford, Conn 179 

Duniway,    C.    A.,    Missoula, 

Mont 418 

Dunlavy,  C.  Arthur,  N.  York.  33 
Dunning,  D.  R.,  Elmira,  N.Y.  358 
Dunton,  G.  W.,  Sycamore, 

DeKalb  Co.,  Ill 274 

duPont,    T.     Coleman,     Wil- 
mington, Del 165 

Durkee  &  Co.,  E.  L.,  Glovers- 

ville,  N.  Y 291 

Durst,  Godfrey,  Danbury,  la.  471 
Dwyer,     Jeremiah,     Detroit, 
Mich 12 

Eagle,  Chas.  K.,  .New  York. .  79 
Eastern  Clay  Goods  Co., 

Boston   165 

Eastwick,  A.  T.,  Bridgeport, 

Montgomery  Co.,  Pa 141 

Eaton,     Amasa     M.,     Provi- 
dence,  R.   1 434 

Eaton  Co.,  Charles  A.,  Brock- 
ton, Mass 140 

Eaton,  Marquis,  Chicago 459 

Ebeling,  J.  F.,  Wheeling,  W. 

Va 256 

Echols,    W.    J.,    Fort  ,Smith, 

Ark 222 

Eckhart,  Frank  E.,  Auburn, 

Ind 133 

Eckman,  W.  J.,  Cincinnati . .  154 
Edenborn,  Wm.,  Shreveport, 

La 458 

Edes,   'Samuel    H.,    Newport, 

N.  H 407 

Edwards,  A.  K.,  Kalamazoo, 

Mich 291 

Edwards,  'Eugene  P.,  Chicago  158 
Edwards,  George  Cliften, 

Dallas,   Tex 360 

Eighmey,  C.  H.,  Dubuque,  la.  252 
Eldredge,  B.,  Belvidere,  111..  151 
Eldridge,  R.  B.,  Lead,  :S.  Dak.  472 
Elias,  A.  J.,  Buffalo,  N.  Y..  330 
Ellis,  Herman,  New  York..  32 
Ellis,  Horace,  Vincennes, 

Ind 370 

Elmore,    (Samuel     E.,     Hart- 
ford, Conn 189 

Elsas,  Jacob,  Atlanta,  Ga...  105 
El  son,  Henry  W.,  Athens,  O.  380 
Elsworth,  R.  H.,  Traverse 

City,  Mich 354 

Elton.  T.  J.,  Manistee,  Mich.  127 
Empkie     Shugart     Hill     Co., 
Council  Bluffs,  la 329 


PAGE 

Engelbach,    Herman,    Arezn- 

ville,  111 261 

Enger,  Frank  J.,  Cincinnati.    67 
Ensign,     R.     H.,     iSimsbury, 

Hartford  Co.,  Conn 271 

Ericson,  Otto  C.,  Chicago . . .  292 

Ernst,  Leo,  Chicago 119 

Eshelby,  E.  O.,  Cincinnati..  392 
Estabrook,  >S.   F.,   Boston...  268 
Euwer,  Harry  G.,  New  Cas- 
tle, Pa 305 

Evans,    Chas.    A.,    Saginaw, 

Mich 340 

Evans,  David  G.,  New  York.  234 
Evans,    D.    L.,    Malad    City, 

Idaho  229 

Evans,  H.  Clay,  Chattanooga 

Tenn 33 

Evans,     Nelson     W.,     Ports- 
mouth. 0 457 

Evans,  'Silas,  Ripon,  Wis, . .  366 
Everhard,  N.  S.}  Wadsworth, 

Ohio    92 

Ewing,  Onnan  W ,  Salt  Lake 
City,  Utah   348 

Failing-McCalman  Co.,  Port- 
land, Ore 285 

Fairfield,  E.  J.,  Minneapolis. 

\Minn 321 

Faithorn,  J.  N.,  Chicago....  344 
Fall,  Charles,  Hoboken,  N.  J.  226 
Fargo,  James  C.,  New  York.  224 
Fargo,  Livingston,  New  York  38 
Farist  'Steel  Co.,  The,  Bridge- 
port, Conn 34 

Farquhar,  A.  B.,  York,  Pa..     10 
Farrar,   Edgar  H.,  New  Or- 
leans, La 428 

Farrell,  Wm.  J.,  .New  York.  325 
Fassett,     J.     Sloat,     Elmira, 

N.  Y 216 

Faulkner,     L.    B.,     Olympia, 

Wash 158 

Faville,  Frederick  F.,  iStorm 

Lake,   Iowa    454 

Fay  &  Sons,  Edwin  R.,  Au- 
burn, N.  Y 272 

Fechner,     Robt ,    (Savannah, 

Ga 351 

Federal   Chemical  Company, 

Louisville,  Ivy 167 

Felber,     C.     J.,    La    Crosse, 

Wis 72 

Fellowes,  GEL,  iSpringfield,  Mo.     33 
Felter.     Wm.    L.,     Brooklyn, 

X.   Y 379 

Fentress,  Calvin,  Chicago...   117 
Finley,  J.  B.,  Pittsburgh,  Pa.  197 


609 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

First  National  Bank,  Hood 
River,  Ore.  . . . 173 

Fish,  ,B.  R.,  St.  Louis 110 

Fiske,  Amos  K.,  New  York. .  489 

Fiske,  George  B.,  Boston 410 

Fitzgerald,  B.  J.,  Fort  Worth, 
Tex. 350 

FitzHugh,  Carter  H.,  Lake 
Forest,  111 385 

Flambeau  Lumber  Co.,  Lac 
du  Flambeau,  Wis 43 

Fletcher,  H.  D.,  Beaumont. 
Tex.  ... 53 

Fleming,  H.  J.,  Easton,  Pa..   137 

Fletcher,  F.  C.,  Boston 155 

Flint,  John  H.,  Andover, 
Mass 146 

Floete,  C.  E.,  Armour,  S.  D.  274 

Fogg,  L.  W.,  Uniontown,  Pa.   166 

Follansbee,  B.  G.,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa 99 

Follrner,  Clogg  &  Co.,  Lan- 
caster, Pa 117 

Folsom,  F.  B.  W.,  Boston...     90 

Folwell,  Wjrn.  Watts,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C 369 

Foote,  E.  H.,  Grand  'Rapids, 
Mich 115 

Fordyce,  Geo.  L.,  Youngs- 
town,  Ohio  332 

Forrest,  J.  I).,  Indianapolis, 
Ind 63 

Foster,  Frank  H.,  Claremont, 
N.  H.  187 

Foster,  Geo.  iE.,  iMellen,  Ash- 
land Co.,  Wis 134 

Foster  Co.,  John,  Beloit, 
Wis 80 

Fowle,  Otto,  'Sault  iSte. 
Marie,  Mich 194 

Fox,  D.  Q.,  'Springfield,  Ohio  301 

Frame,  Andrew  J.,  Wauke- 
sha,  Wis 170 

Frank  Isaac  W.,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa 109 

Franklin,  F.  G.,  Albany,  Ore.  375 

Franklin  Manufacturing  Co., 
H.  H.,  (Syracuse.  N.  Y 143 

Fraser,  C.  W.,  Menomonee 
Falls,  Wis 416 

Freck,  C.  G.,  Sheffield,  Pa .  .     71 

Freiberg,  J.  Walter,  Cincin- 
nati    147 

French,  Harry  B,,  Philadel- 
phia    303 

French,  Leslie,  Escanaba, 
Mich.  185 

French,  William  IS..  <Evans- 
ville,  Ind 324 


PAGE 

Frentz,  T.  R.,  Oshkosh,  Wis.  174 
Freudenthal,  V.  J.,  El  Paso, 

Tex 309 

Freund,  John  C.,  New  York.  498 

Frey,  R.  E.,  Carthage,  Mo. .  214 
Friend,  J.  E.,  Milwaukee, 

Wis 104 

Fry,  Henry  C.,  Rochester, 

Pa 259 

Fuller,  G.  W.,  New  York. . .  148 

Fuller,  J.  E.,  Boston 112 

Fullerton,  iRoht,  Des  Moiues, 

Iowa 289 

Fullerton,  ,8.  H.,  'St.  Louis..  135 
Fiinkheuser,  E.  CM.,  Roanoke, 

Va 131 

Gaffney,  A.  H.,  Kane,  Pa...     68 

Gaines  &  Co.,  W.  A.,  Frank- 
fort, Ky 140 

Gallaher,  W.  P.,  Minneapo- 
lis, Minn 112 

Gammell,  Roibert  Ives,  Provi- 
dence, R.  I. 215 

Gammell,  William,  Provi- 
dence, R.  I 81 

Gannett,  William  H.,  Augus- 
ta, Maine  424 

Garaghty,  Jos.  H.,  Chicago..     57 

Gardner,  James  P.,  Chicago.   105 

Gardner,  Rathbone,  Provi- 
dence, R.  1 240 

Garland  Co.,  The  M.,  Bay 
City,  Mich 43 

Garlick,  Henry  CM.,  Youngs- 
town,  Ohio 181 

Garretson,  A.  B.,  Cedar  Rap- 
ids, Iowa 350 

Garrigues,  W.  A.,  New  York.     18 

Geele  Hardware  Co.,  Frank, 
Sheboygan,  Wis 327 

Genesee  Lumber  Co.,  Gene- 
see,  La. 141 

Gensman,  George  J.,  Enid, 
Okla 302 

Gibson,  G    W.,  Chicago 343 

Giering,  Eugene  T.,  Wilkes- 
Barre,  Pa 416 

Gilbert  Alexander,  New  York  173 

Gilbert,  S.  L.,  St.  Louis 132 

Gilbert,  W.  M.,  Neenah.  Wis.  206 

Gillespie,  Robert  .E.,  East  St. 
Louis,  111 275 

Gilthorpe,  William  J.,  Kan- 
sas City,  Mo 601 

Glass.  Powell,  Lynchburg, 
Va.  416 

Glass,  iSheldon  J.,  Milwau- 
kee, Wis. '... 39 


610 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Glattly,  Win.,  Aftoii,  Iowa..  62 
Glessner,  John  J.,  Chicago..  13 
G.obe  -  Wemicke  Co.,  The, 

Cincinnati 124 

Glover,  Horace  P.,  Mifrlin- 

fom-g,  Pa 442 

Goddard,  Edwin  C.,  Ann 

Arbor,  Mich 595 

Goehring  Mfg.  Co.,  The. 

Akron,  O. 143 

Goepel,  A..  Brooklyn,  iN.  Y..  266 
Goff,  F.  H.,  Cleveland,  O...  249 

Goff,  H.  P.,  Crafton,  Pa 200 

Golding,  Edwin,  Wilmington, 

Del 169 

Goldwater,  Henry,  New 

York  89 

Goodell,  A.,  &  Sons  Co., 

Loda,  111 196 

Gookin,  Charles  B.,  Boston.  319 
Gore,  D.  L.,  Wilmington,  N. 

C 282 

Grantz,  C.  F.,  Moline,  111. ...  466 
Grafton  &  Knight  Mfg.  Co., 

The,  Worcester,  Mass 170 

Graves,  W.  F.,  Hosford,  Fla.  314 
Gray,  George  A.,  Duluth, 

Minn 333 

Gray,  William,  Amesbury, 

Mass 160 

Green,  Benoni  Sherman, 

Bloomington,  111 324 

Green,  John  W.  Knoxville, 

Tenn 458 

Green,  R.  O.,  Fort  Dodge,  la.  602 
Gregg,  D.  A.,  Nashua,  N.  H.  87 
Gregory,  Charles  Noble, 

Washington,  D.  C 381 

Gregory,  C.  V.,  Chicago 402 

Griffin  &  Co.,  John  J.,  Phila- 
delphia    165 

Griswold,  Chas.  J.,  Hamil- 
ton, N.  Y 211 

Gross,  Louis  N.,  Cleveland, 

0 51 

Gross,  Robert  H.,  Boston...  169 
Gund,  Henry,  La  Crosse,  Wis.  110 


Haas  Bros.,  Cincinnati 115 

Hage,  Geo.  .S.,  Madelia,  Minn.  125 

Hageman,  F.,   Salina,   Kan..  237 

Hahn,  Henry,  Portland,  Ore.  285 

Hake,  E.  W.,  Cincinnati 29 

Hale,  A.  H.,  Manchester,  N. 

H 252 

Hale,  H.  P.,  Boston 331 

Hales,  J.  C.,  Wilson,  N.  C.  . .  203 


PAGE 

Hall,    Win.    M.,    Pittsburgh, 
Pa 449 

Hamill,  Alfred  E.,  Chicago.  .  261 

Ilanrill,  Charles  H.,  Chicago.  460 

Hamill  Co.,  S.,  Keokuk,  la..  323 
I  Hamilton,  J.  T.,  Cedar  Rap- 
ids, la 225 

|  Hamilton     Mfg.     Co.,     The, 
Two  Rivers,  Wis 29 

Hamilton,  Win.  E.,  Milwau- 
kee, Wis 201 

Harnlin,  Edward,  Boston. . . .  327 

Ilamrnett,  James  D.,  Ander- 
son, S.  C 92 

Hammond,  John  Hays,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C 474 

Hammond,  R.  R.,  Chicago.. 26,  95 

Hammond,    W.    R.,    Atlanta, 
Ga 402 

Handlan,  E.   W.,  'St.  Louis.     35 

Haney,     Lewis    H.,    Austin, 
Tex 380 

Ilansen,  T.  J.,  Grand  Island, 
Neb 256 

Ilaushue,     J.     J.,     Lansing, 
Mich 283 

Harding,       Frank,       Middle- 
town,  N.  Y 182 

Hardinge,     Harold,     Ellicott 
City,  Md .  272 

Hardy,      Richard,       Chatta- 
nooga, Tenn 93 

Hare,    J.   Montgomery,    New 
York    230 

Haring,  Charles  0.,  Quaker- 
town,  Bucks  Co.,  Pa 259 

Harker,  W.  W.,  East  Liver- 
pool, 0 233 

Harkiiis,    L.    D.,    Faribault. 
Minn 41 

Harper,  J.  C.,  Cincinnati 449 

Harrell,     J.    A.,     Frankfort, 
Ind 357 

Harris,    Nelson    E,    Orange, 
Mass 19 

Harris,  N.  W.,  Chicago 265 

Harrison,    -S.    T.,    Memphis, 
Tex 281 

Ilarter,  Geo.  A.,  Newark,  Del.  422 

Harter  Milling  Co.,  The,  To- 
ledo, 0 32 

Hartman,       Alexander      W., 
Duluth,  Minn 112 

Harwi,  F.  E.,  Atchison,  Kan.  219 

Harwood,    G.    F.,    Appleton, 
Wis 168 

Haserot,    Samuel    F.,    Cleve- 
land, O.    .  99 


1 M  )  1-: X    TO    COXTli  I B UTORS. 


PAGE 

llaskett,  Jolm  F.,  Bottincau, 
N.  Dak 40S 

Hatch,  Edward  B.,  Hartford, 
Conn 128 

Hatzel,  John  €.,  New  York.  4'2(j 

Havens,  Paul  E.,  Leaven- 
worth,  Kan 204 

Haw  &  iSimmons  Co.,  Ottum- 
wa,  la 320 

Hawes,  Frederick  B.,  New 
Bedford,  Mass 71) 

Hawkins,  J.  D.,  Colorado 
'Springs,  Colo 42 

Hawley,  A.  D.,  Bristol, 
Conn 147 

Ilayden,  J.  Alex.  New  York.   141) 

Ilayden,  P.,  Saddlery  Hard- 
ware Co.,  The,  Columbus, 
O S3 

Hayhurst,  Walter  F.,  Lam- 
bertville,  N.  J 460 

Hazelton,  W.  .S.,  Elkart,  Ind.  248 

llazen.  E  B.,  Bridal  Veil, 
Ore 133 

llazen  &  Lotspeich  Co., 
Knoxville,  Tenn 317 

Head,  Franklin  H.,  Chicago.  386 

Head,  James  M.,  Boston 480 

Headley  &  Fanner  Co..  New- 
ark, N.  J 35 

Healy.  A.  Augustus.  New- 
York  185 

Healy,  Timothy,  New  York.  591 

Heileinan,  G.,  Brewing  Co., 
La  Crosse,  Wis 93 

Hermann,  Julius,  Monson, 
Mass 133 

Ileizman.  William  A.,  Read- 
ing, Pa 319 

Hendershot,  W.  H.,  Charle- 
roi,  Pa 353 

Henderson,  Frank  C.,  Brook- 
line,  Mass 59 

Henley.  A.,  Lawrence.  Kan. .     2." 

Henry,  Hugh,  Chester.  Vt...   275 

Heppenheiiner.  Win.  C..  Jer- 
sey City.  N.  J 269 

Herman,  S..  Oshkosh.  Wis...  312 

Hermann,  Ferdinand.  New 
York  223 

Herreshoff,  John  P>..  Bristol. 
R.  I 118 

Herron,  L.  'S.,  Lincoln.  Neb..  600 

Herron.  W.  A.,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa. 166 

Hersey.  H.  P.,  Hingli:un. 
Mass 181 

Hewes  &  Potter,  Boston..,    .   135 


PAGE 

Hildrup.  \Y.  T..  Jr..  Harris- 
burg,  1'a 4o 

Hill,  Lew  C..   Boston 5!>l> 

Hill,  W.  B.,  Kansas  City,  Mo.     50 

Uaydenville  Company,  The, 
Haydenville,  Mass 02 

llillyer,  Win.  Himl,  Atlanta. 
Ga 245 

Iliiidiiian,  F.  T.,  Boise,  Idaho  328 

lline,  Thomas  W..  Eureka. 
Cal 472 

Hininan,  Edward  C.,  Battle 
Creek,  Mich 134 

llirsch,  I.  C.,  Cincinnati 1S2 

Hirsch  Bros.  Dry  Goods  Co;, 
St.  Joseph,  Mo 303 

Hitchcock,  Charles  C.,  Ware, 
•Mass 310 

Iloblit,  A.  L.,  Carlinville,  111.  2:u; 

Hodge.  F.  M.,  Kalamazoo, 
Mich 110 

Hodgman,  T.  Morey,  St. 
Paul,  Minn 305 

Hoffman,  Frederick  L.,  East 
Orange,  N.  J 418 

Holden- Leonard  Co.,  Ben- 
nington,  Vt 132 

Holder,  H.  A.,  Peabody, 
Mass 76 

Hoi  ley,  J.  M ,  La  Crosse, 
Wis 253 

Holliday  &  Co..  W.  J.,  In- 
dianapolis. Ind 201) 

Hollingsworth,  Zachary  T., 
Boston  108 

Hollis,  Allen,  Concord,  N.  H.  459 

Hollister,  George  II.,  Fargo, 
N.  D 204 

Hollocker,  F.  J.,  Clayton, 
Mo.  183 

Holmes,  Henry  L.,  Orange, 
N.  J 245 

Holt,  C.  Parker,  San  Fran- 
cisco    117 

Holt,  Geo.   H.,  Chicago 39 

Holt.  Henry,  New  York 401 

Hood  Rubber  Co.,  The,  Bos- 
tori  170 

Hook-Hastings  Co.,  Kendal 
Green,  Mass 110 

Hooper,  W.  W.,  Chattanooga, 
Tenn 374 

Hoopeston  Canning  Co., 
Hoopeston.  Ill 170 

Hooven  &  Allison  Co.,  The. 
Xenia,  Ohio  33.". 

Hopewell.   Frank,   Boston...   158 

Hopkins,  L.  J..  Duluth.  Minn.  120 


612 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


Hop  wood,  Jusephus,  Lyncli- 
burg,  Va 

Ilormel  &  Co.,  Geo.  A.,  Aus- 
tin, Minn 

Home  Co.,  Joseph,  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa 

Hoskins,  Thomas  J.,  Knox- 
ville,  Tenn 

Hosmer,  R.  W.,  Chicago 

Houk,  William,  Joplin,  Mo. . 

Houston,  A.  F.,  €oatesville, 
Pa 

Howard,  Charles  A.,  Aber- 
deen, iS.  D 

Howard,  Josiah,  Emporium, 
Pa 

Howard,  J.  T.,  Dallas,  Tex. . 

Howe,  Samuel  T.,  Topeka, 
Kan 

Hoyt  Company,  W.  II.,  Chi- 
cago   

Hubbard,  Charles  W.,  Boston 

lludnut,  Alexander  M.,  New 
York 

Huff,  Robert  E.,  Wichita 
Falls,  Tex 

Hughes,  Edward  E.,  Frank- 
lin, Pa 

Hughes,  J.  T.,  Duluth,  Minn. 

Hughes  &  Wolcott,  Dover, 
Del 

Huhlein,  Charles  F.,  Louis- 
ville, Ky 

Hull,  D.  C.,  Jackson,  Miss.. 

Humphrey,  W.  J.,  Warsaw, 
N.  Y 

Hums-tone,  Walter  C.,  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y 

Hunt,  J.  H.,  Massillon,  Ohio 

Hunt  Engineering  Company, 
Kansas  City,  iMo 

Hunter,  C.  Burtis,  Brooklyn, 
N.  Y 

Hunter,  C.  L.,  Canton.  Ohio. 

Hunter,  Joseph  P..  Niagara 
Falls,  N.  Y 

Hunter,  J.  W.,  'St.  Louis 

Hunter,  Pen-in  P.,  Cincin- 
nati   

Hunter,  Thos.,  Fulton,  N.  Y. 

Hunter,  iStevens  &  Co.,  La 
Salle,  111 

Huntington,  D.  L.,  Spokane, 
Wash 

Hutchins,  J.  C.,  Chicago 

Hyatt,  Abram  M.,  New  York 

Hyde.  Wm.  DeW.,  Bruns- 
wick, Maine  


PAGE 
418 
107 
308 

349 
219 
250 


145 

86 

388 

311 
100 

262 
454 

75 
355 

400 

104 
377 

2:10 

31!) 
240 

388 

230 
32 

35G 
357 


112 

290 

55 
460 
262 


PAGE 

Illinois  Brick  Co.,  Chicago..  34 
Indianapolis  Mortar  &  Fuel 

Co.,  Indianapolis,  Ind....  140 
Ingle,  William,  Baltimore..  ISO 
Inglis,  John  L.,  Dunnellon, 

Fla i]«5 

Inman-Poulseu  Lumber  Co., 

Portland,  Ore 104 

Irish  Bros.,  Philadelphia...  135 
Ironside,  Alexander,  Barre, 

Vt 349 

Irving,  <S.  C.,  San  Francisco.  157 
Irwin,  Dudley  M.,  Buffalo, 

N.  Y 310 

Irwin,  O.,  New  Castle,  Pa..  352 
Isaacs  &  Co.,  ,S..  New  York.  101 
Ivinsou,  Edward,  Laramie, 

Wyo .   202 


Jackiuan,     II.     L..     Eureka. 
Cal 102 

Jackson,  C.  F.,  Norwalk.  O..  303 

Jackson,  P.  T.,  Jr.,  Boston.   141 

Jackson,    R.    A.,     St.     Paul. 
Minn 435 

Jackson,   Willis  K.,   Buffalo. 
iN.  Y 138 

Jameson,  David,  New  Castle. 
iPa ios 

Jaueway  &  Carpender,   New 
Brunswick.    N.    J 155 

Jarnagin,    G.    L.,    iShipmau, 
Miss 597 

Jay,  John  C..  Jr.,  New  York.   122 

Jeffrey,  It.  H.,  Columbus.  O.     is 
1  Jenks,  William  .S.,  Chicago..  598 
!  Jenkins,'    T.     Clifton,     Pitts- 
burgh, Pa 316 

j  Jerome,      F.      S.,      Norwich, 
Conn 257 

Jester,  L.  A.,  Des  Moines,  la.  465 

Jewell,  Charles  L.,  New  Al- 
bany,  Ind 459 

Johnson,  A.  G.,  Minneapolis, 
Minn 404 

Johnson,  C.   D.,   Alta  Loina, 
Tex 353 

Johnson,    C.    R.,    San    Fran- 
cteco    . ..  318 

Johnson,  C.  .S.,  Plattsburgh. 
N.  Y 210 

Johnson,  F.  Coit,  New  York.  312 

Johnson.    Homer    W.,    Sioux 
City,  Iowa    232 

Johnson,  J.  W..  New  Bruns- 
wick, N.  J 136 

Johnston,  Allen  W.,  Schenec- 
tady.    N.    Y 244 


613 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Johnston,    E.     D.,    Comiers- 

ville,  Ind 17 

Johnston,    Leslie    M.,    Pitts- 
burgh,  Pa 15(5 

Joiinston,  Morris  L.,  Chicago.  448 
Jones,  B.  P.,  Valdosta,  Ga . .  201 
Jones,  Charles  II.,  Boston . .  12 
Jones,  Clarence  A.,  St.  Paul, 

Minn 398 

Jones,  G.  Dal,   Chicago 347 

Jones,  Harry  R.,  Canton,  0.  .  163 
Jones,  R.  T.,  North  Tonawan- 

da,  N.  Y 93 

Jones,   (Samuel    D.,    Atlanta, 

Ga 68 

Joslin  &  Co.,  F.  N..  Maiden, 

Mass 332 

Joun,    Arthur    W.,    Philadel- 
phia     288 

Judson,  William,  Grand  Rap- 
ids,   Mich 293 

Kalamazoo  Corset  Co.,  Kala- 

mazoo,  Mich 125 

Karpen,  S.,  &  Bros.,  Chicago.  168 
Keator,  E.,  Cortlandt,  N.  Y.  261 
Keen,  J.  S.,  Detroit,  Mich. . .  169 
Reiser,  James  R.,  New  York.  59 
Keister,  Lawrence,  Annville, 

Pa 420 

Keith.     Geo.     E.,     Brockton, 

Mass 131 

Kellogg,    E.    B.,    Keytesville, 

Mo. 401 

Kellogg,  L.  D.,  Chicago 35 

Kelsey,     Clarence    IT..     New 

York 218 

Kelsey,  Francis  W.,  Ann  Ar- 
bor,   Mich 362 

Kemmerer,    E.    W.,     Ithaca, 

N.  Y 306 

Kendall,  A.  G.,  San  Bernardi- 
no, Cal 267 

Kenna,  Edward  Dudley,  New 

York    598 

Kennedy,  James  B.,  .S-chenec- 

tady,  N.  Y 421 

Kennedy,   R.   L ,    Springfield, 

Mo 415 

Kennett,     A.      C.,     Comvny, 

N.  H 331 

Kern,  W.  M..  New  York 196 

Kerr,  John  B.,  New  York...  435 

Key,  E.,  Marshall,  Tex 257 

Kilpatrick,  Worth,  Connells- 

ville,  Pa.  184 

Kilpatrick     Bros.,     Beatrice, 
Neb.  .   470 


PAGE 

Kimball,    Daniel    A.,    .Stock- 
bridge,    Mass 2:;i 

King,    Edward,    New   Castle, 
Pa ur>:; 

King,    II.     II.,    Minneapolis, 
Minn 103 

Kinginan,  H.  R.,  North  Yaki- 
rna,  WTash 64 

Kirby,     John     H.,     Houston, 
Tex 92 

Kirkhani,   Thos.    A.,    Bridge- 
port, Conn 32 

Kistler,  Sedgwick,  Lock  Ha- 
ven, Pa 108 

Kistler,  Wilson,  Lock  Haven, 
Pa 110 

Kittridge,  Benjamin  R.,  San 
Francisco    294 

Klee's  (Sons,  Joseph,  Mounds- 
ville,   W.   Va 148 

Kneedler,  H.  S.,  Eldora,  la..  396 

Knox,  Clyde  II.,  .Seaan,  Kan.  419 

Koch,    Henry.    Kansas   City, 

Mo 328 

1  Koch,  J.  W.,  East  Alton,  111. .   153 

Koehler,  Henry,  Kansas  City, 
Mo 238 

Kohler  Co.,  F    E.,  The,  Can- 
ton,  Ohio    67 

Koppikus,  D.  W.,  -Eas+  Oak- 
land, Cal 358 

Kraukauer.  .A.,  El  Paso,  Tex.  281 

Krake.  II.  G.,  St.  Joseph,  Mo.  465 

Kramer,  II.  L.,  Kramer,  Ind.     16 

Krell,  Albert,  Cincinnati 102 

Kriege,  Otto    E.,  Warrenton, 
Mo.   376 

Krohn,  Fechheimer  Co.,  The, 

Cincinnati    160 

i  Kuhlke,  Geo.  W.,  New  York.  292 
i  Kunhardt,    W.    B.,    Reading, 
Pa 160 

Kurtz,     Julius     F.,     Beaver 
Falls,  Beaver  Co.,  Pa 100 

Lamperty.  A.  G.,  Boston 329 

Lamphere,   Geo.  N.,  'Sr.,  Pa- 
louse,  Wash 408 

Lamson,  N.  G.,  Lowell,  Mass.  191 
La  my  Mfg.  Co.,  J.  A..  Seda- 

lia,  Mo 34 

Lander,    F.    D.,    Hattiesburg, 

Miss 417 

Lane,  Benj.  C..  Boston 162 

Lane,     Frederick     H..     New 

York  193 

Lane  Cotton  Mills  Co.,  New 

Orleans,  La 11 

Lang.  A.  E..  Toledo,  Ohio..   22:1 


614 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Langeloth,  J.,  New  York 145 

Larson,  L.  P.,  Biuford,  N.  D.  278 
La-Rue,  B.  V.  M.,  Dallas,  Tex.  125 
Lasthrop,  Bryan,  Chicago. . . .  210 
Latimer,  Orion,  Abingdon, 

111 239 

Laughliu,  Geo.  A.,  Canton,  O.  04 
Lawrence  Dwight,  Chicago . .  460 
Lawrence,  John  'S.,  Boston. .  315 
Law  son,  Fenton,  Cincinnati.  65 
Layman,  C.  E.,  Troutville, 

Va 269 

Leavitt,  Charles  W.,  Jr.,  New 

York 410 

Lee,   Blewett,  Chicago 444 

Lee,  Wm.  G.,  Cleveland,  O..  330 
Lehman,  Samuel,  Cincinnati.  243 
Leich  &  Co.,  Charles,  Evans- 

ville,  Ind 311 

Leland,  Lorenzo,  Ottawa,  111.  241 

Lemmon,  T.  A.,  Chicago 134 

Letson,  T.  H.,  'New  York. . .   127 
Levering,  Eugene,  Baltimore.  269 
Levermore,  Chas.  H.,  Brook- 
lyn,  N.  Y 411 

Levy,  Jas.  I.,  Ashland,  Wis.   105 
Lewis,  John  Q.,  Clinton,  111.  272 
Lewis,  W.  T.,  Racine,  \vis..     SO 
Libbey  &  Dingley  Co.,  Lewis- 
ton,   Me 139 

Lindaner,   Joseph,  Nashville, 

Tenn 303 

Lindeke,    A.    H.,     St.    Paul, 

Minn 323 

Lindenburg,  Charles  II.,   Co- 
lumbus, Ohio 150 

I  Aim,  A.  R.,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y..  347 
Linn,  Walter  R.,  Harrisburg, 

Pa r 427 

Linsley,  E    B.,  Three  Rivers, 

Mich.  14 

Lippincott    Glass  'Co.,    The, 

Cincinnati  147 

Lisman,  F.  J.,  New  York 246 

Littauer,  L.  N.,  New  lork. . .  92 
Livingston,  J.  B.,  New  Haven, 

Conn 94 

Llewellyn,  Silas  J.,  Chicago..  157 
Lockhart,   Oliver   C.,   Colum- 
bus, Ohio 381 

Locomobile   Co.   of  America, 

The,  Bridgeport,  Conn.  ...     54 
Loeb,  Ferdinand  L.,  Philadel- 
phia     Ill 

Logan,  George  B.,  Pittsburgh, 

Pa 327 

Logan,     James,      Worcester. 
Mass. 46 


PAGE 

Lombard,  J.  W.  P.,  Milwau- 
kee, Wis I8i 

Lombard!,  C.,  Dallas,  Tex. . .  402 
Long,    R.    A.,    Kansas   City, 


Mo. 


Longhead,  Charles  W.,  Akron, 

Ohio   358 

Looinis,    E.    P.,    &   Co.,   New 

York 305 

Looruis,  N.  E.,  Zauesville,  O.  148 
Lord,  J.  Walter,  Baltimore, 

Md 431,458 

Loring,  Augustus  P.,  Boston. 

161,  433 

Lothman,  William,  St.  Louis.  167 
Lounsbury,    Ralph    R.,    Chi- 
cago      450 

Lovell      &      Buffiugton     To- 
bacco Co.,  Covington,  Ky . .     85 
Lovejoy,  Wm.  J.,  Fulton,  N. 

Y  271 

Lowe,  A.  B.,  St.  Louis 352 

Lowe,  Houston,  Dayton,  O . .  138 
Lowe,  Millard,  Mystic,  la...  359 
Lowe,  R.  B.,  Fitchburg, 

Mass 32 

Lowe,  W.  E.,  New  York 228 

Lovvenstein,    A.,    Chillicothe, 

Mo 287 

Lucas,  H.  C.,  North  Yakima, 

Wash 20?5 

Luden,  W.  H.,  Reading,  Pa..     34 

Luetge,  H.  F.,  Boston 91 

Lund,  C.  N.,  .Salina,  Utah...  410 
Luther,  F.  'S.,  Hartf9rd. 

Conn 415 

Lynll.    William    L.,    Passaic, 

N.  J 77 

Lyford,  F.  E..  Waver ly,  N.  Y.  219 
Lyman,  Arthur  T.,  Boston. . .  49 
Lynch.  J.  M.,  Indianapolis, 

Ind 334 

Lynd,  S.  B.,  Louisville,  Ky.  .  215 
Lynn.  Charles  J.,  Indianapo- 
lis, Ind 20 

Lyon,  Geo.  H..  Detroit.  Mich.  .Trt 

MarCracken,  John  II.,  New 
York  365 

MacKellar,  W.  H.,  Peekskill, 
N.  Y 596 

MacMillan,  J.  H.,  Minneapo- 
lis, Minn 25 

MacRne.  William  A.,  Port- 
land. Ore 179 

McAlpin,  Wm.  M.,  Paul 
Smiths,  Franklin  Co.,  N. 
Y 84 

Mcfnbe,  Geo.  W.,  Chicago. . .   21. S 


615 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 

PAGE 


McCaleb,  Walter  F.,  San  Au- 
toiiio,  Tex ISo 

McCalluin,  A.,  Northampton, 
Mass 129 

McClurg,  Ogden  T.,  Chicago.  3SS 

McConnell,  Francis  J.,  Green- 
castle,  Ind 42*o 

McCrea,  Roswell  C.,  Philadel- 
phia  303 

McCrum-Howell      Co.,      The, 
New  York 70 

MeCulloch,      Charles,      Fort 
Wayne,  Ind 224 

MeCurdy,  Charles  M.,  Belle- 
tonte,  Pa 235 

McCurdy,  W.  II..  Evjinsville, 
Ind. G7 

McDonald,     Donald,     Louis- 
ville, Ky 130 

McElderry,    Hugh   L..   Talla- 
dega,  Ala.  23T 

McEwen,     W.     E.,     Dulutli, 
Minn 360 

McGill,    Fred    C.,    Oil   City, 
Pa.   202 

McGrath,  Tom  J.,   St.   Paul. 
Minn -159 

Mclntosh,  Chas.    E..    Council 
Bluffs,  la 341 

Mclntosh,  G.  C..  Fayettoville. 
W.  Va 403 

McKibben.   H.  L.,  Arlington, 
Neb. 332 

McKim,  L.  L.,  Ottawa,  Kan.   472 

McKinley,   J.   A.,   Roseberry, 
Ida.   * 399 

McKinney,  J.  F.,  -Englewood. 
N.  J 250 

McKinstry,  Louis,  Fredonia, 
N.  Y 413 

McLaughlin,   W.    F.,     &  Co., 
Chicago   297 

McLean,    Francis    H.,    New 
York 375 

McMaster,  Geo.,  Moline,  111. .   113 

McMillin,      Emerson,      New 
York 199 

McNair,    F.    W.,    Hough  ton. 
Mich 370 

McVitty,  iS.  H..  Salem.  Va. . .     82 

McWhirter,  Felix  T.,  Indian- 
apolis, Ind 188 

Macrum.     George   :S.,     Pitts- 
burg,  Pa 200 

Magoffin,     James     R.,     New 
York  258 

Mahon,    'Samuel,     Ottumwa, 
la 301 

Mallinckrodt       Chemical 
Words.  St.  Louis 114 


PAGE 

Mallory,  E.  A.,  &  <Sons,  Dan- 
bury,  Conn '.   107 

Mandlebauni,    James,    Little 
Rock,  Ark 322 

Manley,    W.    P..    Sioux  City,  ' 
la 217 

Manson,  D.  E.,  Boston 114 

Manson,  John  T..  New  Karon. 
Conn 207 

Mapel,  A.  Ray,  Waynesburg, 
Pa 398 

Marble,  W.  A..  New  York...   109 

Mai-burg.     Theodore,     Balti- 
more     422 

Marbury    Lumber  Co.,    The, 
Marbury,  Ala 152 

Marks,  Martin  A.,  Cleveland, 
Ohio   57 

Marr,  J.  II..  Davenport,  Neb..  322 

Marse.  T.  W..  Taylor,  Tex. . .  319 

Marshall,     A.     M.,     Dnluth. 
Minn 90 

Marshall   Oil   Co.,   Marshall- 
town,  la 34 

Martin,    John.    Stapleton,    S. 
1 418 

Martin.  Win..  Chelsea,  Mass.   155 

Mason.   A.   E..    Glens    Falls, 
N.  Y 251 

Mason,    Edward   IT..     Bruns- 
wick, Ga 22n 

Mather,    William    G.,    Cleve- 
land, O 594 

Mathews,     Byron     C.,     East 
Orange,  N.  J 370 

Mathews,  John  A.,  .Syracuse, 
N.  Y 159 

Mattecheck,     M.     W.,     Iron- 
wood,  Mich -. 231 

Matteson,  Chas.,  Providence, 
R.  1 447 

Mauldin,  J.  L.,  Cleveland,  O.     37 

Mautner,  Julius,  New  York.  313 

May,   Charles   H.,    Fremont, 
Neb. 287 

May,    John  '  W.,    Alexandria. 
Va 307 

Mayer  Boot  &  'Shoe  Co.,  F., 
Milwaukee.  Wis 331 

Maynard,    Frank    Hamilton, 
Providence,  R.  1 109 

Maynard,    Wesley   A.,    West 
Somerville,    Mass 402 

Mayo,  Hamilton,  Leominster, 
Mass 213 

Meacham,  D.  B.,  Cincinnati.   154 

Mead-Morrison  Mfg.  Co.,  Bos- 
ton   .  117 


010 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Af  ears- Slay  ton    Lumber    Co., 

Chicago   323 

MeeKer,  Arthur,  Chicago.  . .  .  142 
Meeker,  Royal,  Princeton, 

N.  J 372 

Meier,  A.  J.,  St.  Louis 15 

Melish,    William    P...    Cincin- 
nati    120 

Mell,  George  II.,  Kane.  Pa..  2ND 
Menton,  John  A.  C.,  Flint, 

Mich.    350 

Meriden    Cutlery    Co.,    Meri- 

deu,  Conn 71 

Meridian  Fertilizer  Factory, 

Meridian.  Miss 124 

Merrick,      Duff,       Asheville, 

N.   C 401 

Merrill,  Jos.  Hansel],  Thom- 

asville.  Ga 453 

Merrill,  William  Willis,  New 

York  320 

Merritt,  Albert  N.,  Chicago.  441 
.Meurer,  C.,  Little  Rock,  Ark.  31)7 
Meyer,  E.  L.,  Hutchiuson, 

Kan .   201) 

Michaels.  II..  San  Francisco.  :;i  l 
Midvale  Steel  Co..  The,  Phil- 
adelphia       Ill 

Milburn  Wagon  Co.,  The,  To- 
ledo,   Ohio    37 

Miles.  P>en.i.  F..  Cleveland,  O.  151 

Miles,   C.   J.,  -Chicago 115 

Miller.  C.  A.,  Bolivar,  Tenn.  .  457  i 
Miller,  David  II..  New  York.  24S  i 
Miller.  F.  A.,  South  Bend, 

Ind 39s 

Miller.    John    S..    Uniontown. 

Pa 32G 

Miller.   Osc-ar  P.,   Rock  Rap- 
ids.   Iowa    230 

Miller.  W.  A..  Columbus,  O.  202 
Miller  Co.,  J.,  The.  Racine, 

\Vis 119 

Milne  &  Co.,  A.,  New  York.  .  310 
Milner,  W.  L.,  Toledo,  Ohio.  302 
Miner,  Asher,  WilkessBarre, 

Pa 123 

Mitchell,  C.  D.,- Chattanooga. 

Tenu OS 

Mitchell,    John,    Mt    Vernon, 

N.  Y 334 

Mitchell,  John  J.,  Chicago..  272 
Mitchell,  Sidney  Z.,  New 

York    220 

Mixter,  Charles  W.,  Burling- 
ton,   Vt 363 

Molleson,  Geo.  E.,  New  York.  165 
Molynn.   J.    S..   Broken  Bow. 
Xeb.  .    170 


PAGE 

Montgomery,  J.  R.,  Windsor 
Locks,  Conn j,-»l 

Montgomery,  Robert  II..  New 
York    L'IM 

Moore,    E.    S.,    Parkersburg,  " 
W.    Va 299 

Moore,  Stephen,  Boston 102 

Moores,   Charles  W.,   Indian- 
apolis.   Ind 451 

Morehouse,    Max,    Columbus, 
Ohio 3:M 

Morgan,    J.    A.,    Middlebury, 
Vt 424 

Morgan,  W.  D.,  Georgetown, 
S.  C 208 

Morrisey,      Hugo,      Jefferson 
City,    Mo 137 

Morison,  W.  K.,  Minneapolis, 
Minn 318 

Morris,   Lawrence   J.,    Phila- 
delphia       296 

Morrison,    Edward    A.,    New 
York 325 

Morrison,  W.  W.,  Toledo,  O.  273 

Morrissey.   James   P.,   'Santa 
Clara,  Cal 421 

Morrissey,  P.  II.,  Chicago...  351 

Morrow.   H.   C.,   White  Hall, 
111 24 

Morrow,     II.     R.,     Amarillo. 
Tex (55 

Morse.  Aimer.  Canton,  Mass.  13!) 

Morse,    C.    I«\,    Kansas   City. 
Mo 00 

Motley.    G.,    New    York 3:;:; 

Mott,  Abrain  C.,  Philadelphia  149 

Mott,  John  T..  Oswego,  N.  Y.  255 

Muhse,  Albert.  Chas.,  Wash- 
ington,  D.   C 367 

Mullen.  James  W.,  San  Fran- 
cisco     426 

Mnller,      Edward     J.,      New 
York    109 

Mullins.  A.  W.,  Linneus,  Mo.  274 

Muncie  Gas  Engine  &  'Supply 
Co.,    Muncie.    Ind 600 

Murphy,    Franklin,    Newark, 
N.    J 161 

Murphy  Co.,  Thomas  D.,  The, 
Red  Oak.  Iowa 410 

Murray,     A.     J..     Cortland, 
N.   Y 86 

Xary.     John     W.,     Trenton. 

N?  J 150 

National  -Lime  &  iStoue  Co., 

The,  Carey,  Ohio 34 

Neilson  Co..  A.  V.,  Ltd., 

Alexandria.    La 2S5 


617 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Nelson,  Murry,  Jr.,  Chicago .  451 

Nelson,  N.  O.,  iSt.  Louis 41 

Newbranch,    H.    E.,    Oinalm, 

'Neb 392 

Newcomb,    C.  iS.,   Frankfort, 

Me 357 

Newcomer,  Waldo,  Baltimore  2<j,S 
New  Jersey  Terra  Cotta  Co., 

The,  New  York 123 

Newman,  J.  A.,  Chicago 359 

Newman,    L.    M.,    Chippewa 

Falls,  Wis '2'22 

Newport    Rolling    Mill    Co., 

Newport,  Ky 81 

New  River  Lumber  Co.,  The 

'Cincinnati    125 

News    Publishing    Co.,   The, 

Water  town,  S.  D 425 

Newton  Wagon  Co.,  Batavia, 

111 165 

New  York  Trust  Co.,  A 269 

Nichols,  Edward  P.,  Boston.   153 
Nicholson,  James  R.,  Boston.   132 
Noah,  Andrew  H.,  Akron,  O.   1.0S 
Nordyke  &  Marmon  Co.,  In- 
dianapolis, Ind 30 

Norelius,    M.    iS.,    Lindstrom, 

Minn 409 

North  Star  Lumber  Co.,  Min- 
neapolis, .Minn 115 

Nor th- Western    Lumber    Co., 

Hoquiam,    Wash 152 

Norton,  Ex.,  New  York 187 

Norton,  G.  A.,  Portland,  Me.  358 
Norton,   J.   Pease,   New   Ha- 
ven, Conn 344 

Nourse,    E.    G.,    Vermillion, 

iS.  D 372 

Noyes    Bros.    &    Cutler,  iSt. 

Paul,  .Minn 295 

Nulsen,  F.  E.,  East  'St.  Louis, 

111 138 

Nye,  G.  H.,  Auburn,  N.  Y 212 

Oak  ma  u,     Walter     G.,     New 

York 228 

Oberstadt,  O.  B.,  Chicago...  94 
O'Brien,  John,  Bradford,  Pa.  354 
Oestinaun,  J.  L.,  'Chicago...  315 
Ogden,  Robert  C.,  New  York.  276 
Oil  and  Natural  Gas  Pro- 
ducer. An  495 

Olcott,  Dudley,  Albany,  N.  Y.  273 
Olcott,  W.  J.,  Duluth.  Minn.  11 
Oler.  Wesley  M.,  iNew  York.  14 
Olive  &  Meyers  iMfg.  Co., 

Dallas,   Tex 107 

Olmsted,  G.  W.,  Ludlow,  Pa.  157 
O'Mara.  W.  M.,  Tyrone.  Pa.  359 


PAGE 

Ornes,    Frederick,    Mt.    Ver- 

non,  Wash 409 

Orr,    Jackson   &    Co.,    Nash- 
ville,  Tenu 2,S6 

Osborn,  II.  C.,  Cleveland,  O. .  :H»0 
Osborii,  Lynian  P.,  Peabody, 

Mass 24x 

Otis,  Oliver,  Rockland,  Me. .  423 
Ott,  Charles  W.,  Milwaukee. 

Wis 319 

Outerbridge,      E.      II.,     New 

York _!7S 

trwen,  O.,  Port  Arthur,  Tex.  4(>S 

Owen,  R.  M.,  New  York....  47 


Pacific  Coast  Borax  Co.,  Oak- 
land, Cal 114 

Pacific  Hardware  &  Steel 

Co.,  Portland,  Ore 293 

Packard.  M.  A.  O.,  Plymouth, 

Ind 271 

Page,  Edward  D.,  New 

York  292,  367 

Page,  H.  R.,  Jackson,  Mich,  isr, 
Page,  Paul  E.,  Buckley, 

Wash 156 

Page,  William  Nelson,  An- 

sted,  Fayette  Co.,  W.  Va . .  107 
Paine,  George  M.,  Oshkosh, 

Wis 63 

Paine.  William  A.,  Boston..  221 
Pankow  Bros..  Sioux  Falls, 

'S.  D 34 

Pardee,  I.  P..  Hazleton,  Pa..  257 
Parker,  C.  W.,  Leaven  worth, 

Kan 35 

Parsons,  Byron,  Evansviile, 

Ind 332 

Patrick,  Charles  H.,  New 

York 261 

Patterson,  J.  B.,  Detroit, 

Mich 223 

Patterson,  J.  E.,  Wilkes- 

Barre,  Pa 151 

Patterson,  J.  J.,  Chatham, 

Va 293 

Pattison,  Everett  W.,  .St. 

Louis  455 

Patton,  J.  E.,  Jr.,  Pittsburgh, 

Pa 163 

Pauuack,  A.  O.,  ^Madison, 

Wis 274 

Pavenstedt,  Adolf,  New  York  214 
Paxton,  W.  F.,  Paducah,  Ky.  227 
Payne,  Frank  H.,  Erie,  Pa..  150 
Payson,  George  S.,  Chicago.  462 
Peabody,  F.  F.,  Troy,  N.  Y..  155 
Peabody,  R.  C.,  New  York..  150 


618 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Peck- Williamson    Heating    & 

Ventilating  Co.,  The,  Cin- 
cinnati    88 

Peck,  William  E.,  New  York.  320 
Peerless  Motor  'Car  Uo.,  The. 

Cleveland,  Ohio  91 

Pierce,  William  F..  Jambier, 

Ohio  378 

Pendleton,  George  B.,  Now 

Bern,  N.  (' 245 

Penfield,  Walter  S.,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C 462 

Peninsular  Portland  Cement 

Co.,  Jackson,  Mich 22 

Perham,  Henry  B.,  St.  Louis.  346 
Perkins.  George  W.,  New 

York 476 

Pero,  J.  W.,  Fremont,  Ohio.  .  268 
Perrine,  H.  C.,  South  Ainboy, 

N.  J 267 

IVrrv,  Alfred  T.,  Marietta, 

Ohio  379 

Perry,  Chas.,  Seattle,  Wash.  315 
Perry.  Stuart  H:,  Adrian, 

Mich 397 

Petas.  William  A.,  Rochester, 

N.  Y 288 

Peterson,  Frank  B.,  San 

Francisco  310 

Peterson,  V.  A.,  -Shickiey. 

Neb 328 

Pettersen,  E.  A.,  Pomeroy, 

Wash 66 

Pfaff,  Charles,  Boston 33 

Phelps,  A.  C.,  Draper,  N.  C.  45 
Phillips,  J.  A.,  Greenville, 

Tex 404 

Pliilipsbom,  M.,  Chicago 322 

Phillips  Insulated  Wire  Co., 

Pawtucket,  R.  1 167 

Phinney,  J.  W.,  Boston 155 

Pierce  Arrow  Motor  Car  Co., 

Buffalo,  N.  Y 13 

Pierce,  Otis  N.,  New  Bedford, 

Mass 126 

Pierce.  Paul  J.,  Iowa  City, 

Iowa  385 

Pierce,  S.  W.,  Junction  City, 

Kan 211 

Pierce,  Wallace  L.,  Boston..  320 
Pike  Mfg.  Co.,  Pike,  N.  H. . .  06 

Pilsbry,  F.  W.,  Chicago 64 

Pitts,  R.  B.,  Camdeu,  S.  C..  140 
Plainville  'Stock  Co.,  Plain- 

ville,  Mass 121 

Plan/,  G.  J.,  Bakersfield,  Cal.  205 
Platt.  Willard  H.,  .New  York  298 
Ploydell,  A.  C..  New  York. .  .  409  | 


PAGE 

Plumb  &  Nelson,  Manitowor, 

Wis 297,  321 

Plumley,  H.  C.,  Fargo,  N.  D.  412 
Poling,  W.  'S.,  Anderson,  Ind.  59 
Porter,  H.  H.,  Jr.,  Chicago..  597 
Post,  C.  W.,  Battle  Creek, 

Mich 485 

Potter,  Edwin  A.,  Chicago. . .  273 
Potter,  John  A.,  Patchogue, 

N.  Y 249 

Powell,  Edwin  C.,  Spring- 
field, Mass 397 

Powers,  H.  IH.,  Boston 390 

Powers,  W.  H.,  Bradford,  Pa.  207 

Pratt,  George  W.,  Boston 406 

Pratt,  H.  M.,  Fort  Dodge,  la.  471 
Pratt,  Win.  M.,  Greenfield, 

Mass 144 

Prentice,  F.  W.»  Adrian, 

Mich 157 

Prentiss  Tool  &  Supply  Co., 

New  York  170 

Preston,  Charles  H.,  Dan- 

vers.  Mass 255 

Price  &  Co.,  Ed.  V.,  Chicago.  280 

Price,  V.  L.,  'St.  Ixwis 143 

Pr  indie,  Fred.  W.,  Wolfe- 

boro,  N.  <H 407 

Pritzlaff  Hardware  Co.,  John, 

Milwaukee,  Wis.  322 

Pullen,  E.  G.,  Waterloo,  la..  355 
Purcell,  John  B.,  Richmond, 

Va 258 

Purnell,  W.  H.,  Kenosha, 

Wis 268 

Purrington,  Wilbur  M.,  Hay- 

denville,  Mass 247 

Queen  City  Printing  Ink  Co., 
The,  Cincinnati  105 

Ragon   Brothers,   Evansville, 

Ind 328 

Raine,  G.  D.,  Memphis,  Tenn.  395 
Raines,  R.  B.,  Independence, 

Iowa    203 

Ralston,  J.  'S.,  Columbus,  O . .  149 
Rammelkamp,    C.    H.,    Jack- 
sonville, 111 384 

Ramsdell,    Morton,     Seattle, 

Wash 106 

Rankin.  E.  W.,  Topeka,  Kan.  393 

Ratcliffe,  W.  L.,  Boston 30 

Raymond,   'George   H.,    New 

York    322 

Rea,  iSamuel,  Philadelphia..   172 
Reaugh,  W.  T.,  Jacksonville, 
111.  304 


C19 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Record,    J.    L.,    Minneapolis, 

Minn 131 

Heed,     Walter     S.,     Corning, 

N.  Y 205 

Reid,      Edwy     C.,     Allegan, 

Mich 423 

Reid,  John,  New  York 51 

Reisinger,  Hugo,  New  York.  317 
Remington,  Franklin,  New 

York    i:;<; 

Rexford,  L.  P.,  St.  Louis IS 

R'heinstrom  Bros.,  Cincinnati  HR> 
Rlioades.  Herbert  A.,  Boston.  271 
Rhodes  &  Sou,  A.  G.,  Atlan- 
ta, Ga 314 

Rhodes,  James  Ford,  Boston.  3SG 
Richards  &  Co..  E.  Ira,  New 

York .130 

Richardson,  €.  T.,  New  York  iMJO 
Richardson  &  Boynton  Co., 

New  York 131 

Richter,  R.  M..  Carthage,  Mo.  123 
Ridgely.  William  Barret, 

Washington,  i>.  C 217 

Rinehart,  A.  R..  Akron.  Ohio.  150 
Ring.  Welding,  New  York...  22<i 
Itissler,  Robt.  C.,  Charles- 

towu.  Jefferson  Co.,  W.-Va.  3fX) 
Riter,  B.  F.,  Logan,  Utah...   270 
Ititter,    James    II.,    Philadel- 
phia       200 

Robert,  Samuel,  New  York..  315 
Roberts,  Abraham,  Calumet, 

Mich 284 

Roberts,    E.     C.,    Davenport, 

Iowa    OS 

Robertson,  O.  W.,  Milwaukee. 

Wis. TV- 
Robinson,  J.  D.,  Toledo,  O..  1G(S 
Robinson,  Lucius  W.,  Punx- 

sutawney.  Pa.   100 

Robison,  .  S.    L,    Texarkana, 

Tex 236 

Rochelle,    Charles,    Wichita, 

Kan 381 

Rockwell,      A.     F.,     Bristol, 

Conn 118 

Rockwell,      C.      B.,      Bristol, 

R.    1 135 

Roehm    &    Davison.    Detroit, 

Mich 317 

Rogers,    Allen   Merrill,    New 

York    70 

Rogers,  Arthur,   Barnesville, 

Ohio 153 

Rogers,  Bernard,  Chicago...  224 
Rogers,  E.  L.,  New  York. . . .  274 
Rogers,  Jas.,  Ausable  Forks. 

Essex  Co.,  N.  Y 150 


Rogers,  Robert,  New  York..   12tJ 
j  Rogers,  William  A.,  Buffalo, 

N.  Y 30 

Roper,    Charles    Lee.    Chapel 

Hill,  N.  •(' 410 

I  Rose,  P.   S..   .Madison,  Wis.  .   400 
I  Rosebush,  Judson  G.,  Apple- 
ton,  Wis 5s 

Itosencran/.     A.     C.,    Evans- 
ville.  I  nd 150 

It oss,    Edward    A..    Madison. 
Wis -124 

Ross,  J.  T.,  Astoria,  Ore 305 

(toss,    William    II..    Oil   Cit.v, 
Pa 350 

Uounseville,      C       C.,      Fall 
River.   Mass 34 

Itowe,  L.  S..  Philadelphia...   300 

Ilueckheim  Bros.  &  Eckstein, 
Chicago    170 

Itnnyon,  W.  C..  Cleveland,  O.  134 

Rush,  R.  II..  Charleroi,  Pa..   ISO 

Ilushmore,    Remsen,     Brook- 
lyn, 'N.   Y. .  . 2<$0 

Russell,    Charles    A..    Provi- 
dence, R.  I ot; 

Russell,  F.  K.,  Dallas,  Tex..   130 

Rusisell,    Burdsall    £"Ward, 
Port  Chester,  N.  Y 120 

Ryan,  John  A..  Rev..  Grove- 
land  Park.  St.  Paul,  Minn.   377 


;   Sack,  A.  Albert.  Providence. 

R.    1 1245 

i  Salisbury,  C.  II..  DeKalb.  111.  154 

Salisbury,    Warren   M.,    Chi- 
cago       322 

Salmon.    W.    W.,    Rochester, 
N.   Y 15 

Salt  Lake  City  Brewing  Co.. 
The,  Salt  Lake  City,  Utah.  103 

Sanders.   Frank  K.,  Topeka. 
.      Kan.   3r,-.i 

Snnders,    Orr    &   Co..    Char- 
lotte, N.  C 308 

Sandford,   William   H.,   Pat- 
ton,  Pa 255 

Saiisom,    R.     H.,     Knoxville. 
Tenn 458 

Sard,  Grange,  Albany.  N.  Y.     42 

Satterlee,    Herbert    L.,    New 
York 457 

Saville,  R.  L.,  Dawson,  Ga .  .  241 

iSaxe,  Frank  Jay.  New  York.  121 

.Scarboro.     Harold.     Towson. 
Md. 415 

iSchaper,     Wm.     A..     Ph.   D.. 
Minneapolis.  Mich 377 


G20 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Scherer,  James  ,A.  B.,  Pasa- 
dena, Cal 371 

Schmeer,  R.  W.,  Portland, 
Ore.  258 

Schnull  &  Co.,  Indianapolis, 


Ind. 


326 


PAGE 

Sliepard,  Charles  E.,  Seattle, 
Wash 452 

.Sheppard,  Franklin  L.,  Phil- 
adelphia    31)3 

Sheppard,  Jr.,  John  S.,  New 


York 


456 


Schoening,   E.   P.,   Columbia,  !  Sheriff,  Andrew  R.,  Chicago.  446 

111 168   j  Sherman,    Charles    A.,   New 

Schou,  Chas.  E.,  Chicago 143   !       York 298 

Schuette,    Fred,    Manitowoc,  j  Sherwin,    John,    North   Chi- 

Wis 311   i       cago    87 

Schulze,  E.  A.,  Duluth,  Minn.  207   |  Shinn,  I.  C.,  Niles,  Cal 467 

Scott,  Charles  P.,  lola.  Kan..  413   !  Shnavely,    H.    M.,    Ephrata, 
Scott,  E.  M.,  Cedar  Rapids,  Pa 233 

la 208   j  Shober,    Gast,    Fort  Wayne, 

Scott,  Rumsey  W..  Boston ...     95   !       Ind ......  425 

Scott,    Win.    T.,   Bridgeport,  j  Shoemaker,    C.   F.,   Philadel- 

Belmont  Co..  Ohio 328          phia    318 

Scovill  Mfg.  Co.,  Waterbury,  Shoemaker,  C.  W.,  Bridgeton, 


Conn 128 

Seager,  Henry  R.,  New  York  362 
Soager,  S.  P.,  Lansing,  Mich.  141 
Sears,  Edmund  H.,  Boston..  69 
Sechler,  D.  M.,  Implement  & 

Carriage  Co.,  Moline,  111..  346 
Seeds,  Charles    J.,    Manches- 
ter, la 190 

Softon    Mfg.    Co.,  The,   Chi- 
cago     121 

SHion.  Stevenson  &  Co.,  Hunt- 

ington,  W.  Va 289 

Seiberling,  F.  A..  Akron,  O..  168 
Seibert.  David  H..  Pottsville, 

Pa ISO 

Selden.    R.    L..    Deep    River, 

Conn 245 

Seligman.    Joseph    L..    New 

York 191 

Sewell,  John  Stephen.  Gantts 

Quarry.  Ala 45 

Shade,  Charles,  Rock  Rapids, 

Iowa    172 

Shainwald,    Ralph    L.,    New 

York  130 

Sharon.  J.  M..  Cadiz.  Ohio..  242 
Shattuck,  A.  R.,  New  York .  .  222 


N.  J 11 

Shook,  A.  M.,  Nashville, 

Tenn 242 

Shultz,  Chas.  iS.,  Hoboken, 

N.  J 211 

Sibley,  Irving  A.,  'South  Bend, 

Ind 290 

Sieg  Iron  Company,  Daven- 
port, la 74 

Silberstein  &  Bondy  Co.,  Du- 
luth, Minn  31S 

Silsby,  George  A.,  Mitchell,  S. 

Dak 468 

Simmons,  Z.  G.,  Kenosha, 

Wis 54 

Singer,  Mortimer  M.,  New 

York 246 

Singleton.  George  F.  S., 

Franklin,  Mass 599 

Sisson,  George  W.,  Potsdam, 

N.  Y 40 

Slade.  'S.  E.,  ;San  Francisco. .  304 
Slagle  &  Co.,  P.  M.,  Alton, 

Iowa  169 

Sloan.  W.  E.,  Albert  Lea, 

Minn 359 

Small.  Milton  T.,  Kalispell, 


M'ont. 


Shane,  T.  J.,  Ashland,  Ivy...   129   i  Sinall%  w!  N.VEl'paso,' Tex.' .  141 

Shaw.  Leslie  M.,  Philadel- 
phia    263 

SI  taw,  M.  ,S.,  fcoyne  City, 
Charlevoix  Co..  Midi 60 

Sheaf  e,  Mark  W..  Water- 
town.  S.  Dak 443  ; 

Sheldon,  A.  M.,  Minneapolis. 
Minn 328  ' 


Sheldon,  C.  E..  Akron.  O 96 

Shelton.   Thomas  Wall.   Nor- 


Smith, Alex.  W.,  Atlanta,  Ga.  462 
Smith,  Arthur  C.,  Omaha. 

Neb  .....................  329 

Smith,  C.  C..  Pittsburg,  Pa  .  .  88 
Smith,  Chas.  Robinson,  New 

York  ..............  .  .....  437 

Smith,  Charles  W.,  'Stockton, 

Kan  .....................  447 

Smith.  Everett  L..  Auburn, 


Me 


273 


folk.  Va 590  ,   Smith.  E.  O..  Storrs,  Conn ...     74 

621 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Smith.  George  J..    Plaza.    N. 

Dak 409 

Smith.   George  P.,   Dubuque, 

Iowa 307 

Smith.  Geo.  T.,  Jersey  City, 

N.  J 250 

Smith,  Henry  B.,   Bay    City, 

Mich 117 

Smith,  Howard  Oaswell,  New- 
York  194 

Smith,  Jas.  A.,  Osage,  la 170 

Smith,  Jay,  Portland,  Ore...  330 

Smith,  Levi,  Warren,  Pa 100 

Smith,  O.  P.,  Logansport,  Ind.  601 

Smith,  R.  D.,  Center,  Neb 137 

Smith,  iS.  M.,  Wendell,  Ida. .  235 
Smith,  Samuel  M.,  Janesville, 

Wis 2G4   I 

Smith,  W.,  Grubber  Co.,  La 

•Crescent,  Minn SG  j 

Smith,  W.  Wilberforce,  Deca- 

tur,  111 387 

Smith,    William   W.,   Lynch- 

burg,  Va 420 

Suioot,    Jr.,    W.    A.,    Alexan- 
dria, Va 300 

Smyth,  J.  G.,  Uvalde,  Tex.  ..  209 
Snow,  Charles  W.,  Syracuse, 

N.  Y 177 

Snow,  Elbridge  G.,  New  York  270 
Snyder,  W.  J.,  Brazil,  Ind.  ..  98 
Snyder,  W.  V.,  Co.,  Newark, 

N.  J 327 

-Scare,  II.  L.,  Hope,  Idaho...   r.'.ix 
Sohn    &    Ileutschler,    Hamil- 
ton, 0 1  (•>."> 

South  Bend  Chilled  Plow  Co., 

South  Bend,  Ind 55  I 

.South     Branch     Valley     Na- 
tional Bank,  Moorefield,  W. 

Va 237 

Southwick.  Francis  H.,  Brook- 
lyn, N.   Y 330 

South  worth.  A.  G.,  New  York  11 S  i 
Spalding,  J.  J.,  Atlanta,  Ga.  105  , 
Spaulding,  C.  K.,  Portland, 

Ore 103   ; 

Spencer,  B.  W.,  Passaic,  N.  J.  253   ! 
Sperry.  M.  L.,  'Savannah,  Ga.   158 
Spies  Lumber  &  Cedar  Co., 

A.,  Menominee,  Mich 83 

'Spigelmyer.      iShem,      Antes 

Fort,   Pa 321 

Spokane     'Sectional     Central 
•Labor     Council,     Spokane, 

Wash 355 

Spooner.    C.    H.,    Northfield, 
Vt.  .  .  3f;<;  1 


PAGE 

Sprague,  Albert  A.,  Chicago.  270 
Sprague,      Frank      J.,      New 

York  :>S6 

Stafford,    It.    E..    Oklahoma. 

City,  OkHa 425 

Stahl,  John  W.,  Chicago 403 

Stambaugh,     John.     Youngs- 
town,  Ohio 133 

Standard  Lumber  Co.,  Alton, 

Fla 35 

Standard    Plate     wlass    Co., 

Butler,  Pa 169 

Stanley,     Alfred,     Plymouth, 

N.  II 138 

Stanton.     Lucius     M.,     New 

York   330 

Stark.   O.   G.,   St.   Louis 48 

Starr,  A.  E.,  Zanesville.  O..  277 
State  Banking  &  Trust  Co., 

Sioux  Falls,  >S.  D 274 

Stebbins,     A.     C.,     Lansing. 

Mich 170 

Stebbins,    James     H.,     New 

York 327 

Steele.  G.  F.,  Port  Edwards, 

Wood  Co..  Wis 130 

•Steele,  G.  H.,  Clinton,  Iowa.  338 
Sterl   &   Co.,   G.   C.,  Abilene, 

Kan 330 

Stern,      Morris,      Galveston, 

Tex 314 

Sternbach,  Morris.  New  York  229 
Stevens.    Horace   J..    Hough- 
ton,    Mich '. 392 

Stevens,    Harold    W.,    Hart- 
ford, Conn 270 

Stevens.   T.    Frank,    Nashua. 

N.  II 149 

Stevens,  W.  Tyrie,  New  York  286 
Stewart  Co.,  Daniel,  Indian- 
apolis,   Ind 306 

Stewart,  E.  J.,  Boston 116 

Stewart,  H.  J.  D.,  'St.  Louis.  395 
Still.  F.  R.,  Detroit,  Mich...  55 
Stiuipson,  H.  F.,  New  York.  385 
Stites,  John,  Louisville.  Ky.  192 
Stockton,  Frank  T.,  Roches- 
ter. N.  Y 421 

Stockton,  R.  H.,  iSt.  Louis.  .   110 
Storrs,'    R.     W.,     DeFuniak 

'Springs.  Fla 396 

Stowell,  Geo.  H.,  Clareniont, 

N.  H 163 

Strassburger,    W.    J.,    Glass- 
mere,  Pa 49 

Strauss.  Albert,  -New  York..  218 
Strother,    D.    J.    F.,     Welch, 

W.   Va 231 

Stnrtevant.  Thos.  L.,  Boston     77 


622 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 

PAGE  PAGE 

Sullivan,  Andrew  T.,  Brook-  Titus,   Edward  Kirk,  Green- 

lyn,  N.  Y 190  j       field,  Mass 405 

Sunny  Brook  Distillery  Co.,  Tobias,    Ernest    E.,    Adrian, 

Chicago   161          Mich 122 

Sutcliff,     B.    W.,    Aberdeen,  Tobin,  John  F.,  Boston 336 

Wash 125  ;  Todd,  Edwin  S.,  Oxford,  O. .  379 

Sutton,      H.      W.      McKees  .  Tomlin,     F.      S.,     Brooklyn, 

Rocks,   Pa 205          N.  Y 343 

Swain,    Geo.    F.,    Cambridge,  Toiupkins,   D.   A.,   Charlotte, 

Mass 411          N.  C 374 

Sweet  &  Son,  A.  H,,  Norton,  Tourtellotte,     Jerome,     Put- 
Mass 120  ;       nam,  Conn 266 

Sweet,    E.    D.,   Cedar    Vale,  Townsend,  G.  T.,  Middletowu, 

Kan 142          N.  Y 247 

Swift,  A.   D.,   Ridgway,   Elk  Townsend,  W.  B.,  Townsend, 

Co.,  Pa 232          Bloimt  Co.,  Tenn 95 

Swindell,   Fred'k,     Rockville,  Traer,  Glenn  W.,  Chicago...    '41 

Conn 154  Tracy  &  Co.,  O.  Y.,  Syracuse, 

N.  Y 324 

Taft,  Harry  Lee,  Chicago . . .  256  Transue     &     Williams     Co., 

Taf t-Pierce  Mfg.  Co.,  Woon-  The,    Alliance,    Ohio 112 

socket,  R.  1 33  Tredway,  H.  E.,  Dubuque,  la.  115 

Taplin,  Rice-Clerkin  Co.,  Ak-  Trowbridge,  E.  Q.,  New  York  252 

ron,  0 595  Tnbbs,     M.    Wes.,     Madison, 

Taussig,    F.    W.,    Cambridge,  Wis 382 

Mass 361  Tuesburg,     L.     W.,     Pontiac, 

Taylor,     J.     M.,     Rochester,  111 443 

N.  Y 97  Tuft,      Leonard,      Pinehurst, 

Taylor,  Jonathan,  Ak~on,  0 .  455          N.  C 152 

Taylor,  M.  H.,  Erie,  Pa 150  j  Philip    S.    Tuley,    Louisville, 

Taylor,    W.   G.    Langworthy,  Ky 31 

Lincoln,  Neb 384  !  Tullis,  Clayton  T.,  Montgom- 

Taylor,    Wm.,    Kansas    City,  ery,  Ala 282 

'Mo 306  Turmenne,    Edmond,    Lewis- 
Taylor,     William     H.,     New                 ton,  Me 357 

York  106  Turner,  C.  H.,  Malone,  .N.  Y.  129 

Telfer,  R.  L.,  iSan  Jose,  Cal..  420  Turner.  W.  T.,  Keating  Sum- 
Terry,    E.    L.,    Yazoo    City,                 mit,  pa 100 

Miss 470  Turney,  Henry  D.,  Columbus, 

Thane,    H.,    Arkansas    City,  Ohio  93 

Ark 194  Tuthill,  John  W.,  Sioux  Falls, 

Thieme,   Theodore    F.,    Fort  Falls,  'S.  D 146 

Wayne.  Ind 78  Twitchell,  H.  K ,  New  York.  227 

Thorn,  W.  J.,  Buffalo,  Wyo. .  243 
Thomas  C.  'S.,  Denver,  Colo.  453 

Thomas   &  Co..   F.   B.,   Roa-  rilman  &  Co.,   J.,  Appleton, 

noke,   Va 309          Wis 329 

Thompson,  John,  Sioux  City,  Ulrich,  Chas.  E.,  Peoria,  111.  243 

Iowa    401  Illrick.  J.  C.,  Columbus,  O . .  327 

Thompson,  W.  R,   Hancock,  Underbill,  E.  F.,  Chicago 124 

Mich '. 182  Union   Trust    Co.,    The.,    In- 

Thorson,     Thomas,     Canton,  dianapolis,    Ind.    274 

S.  D 263  TJ.   S.  Horse  iShoe  Co.,  Erie, 

Threlkeld,  W.  L.,  Lexington,  Pa 166 

Ky 258  United  States  (Safe  Co.,  Eliz- 

Thurston.  George  W.,  Provi-  abeth.    Pa 69 

dence,  R.  1 118  Union  Starch  &'  Refining  Co., 

Tiedemann,   Geo.   W.    O'Fal-  Edinburg.   Ind 101 

Ion,  111 75  Utley,  S.  W..  Detroit,  Mich .     82 

623 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE    : 

Vau    Brunt    Mfg.     Co.,  The, 

Horicon,  Wis 3x 

Vance,  A.  F.,  Jr.,  Urbaiia,  O.  -To 
Yanden,      J.      W.,      Jackson, 

Tenn 240 

Van  Deiisen,   Don  iC.,   Blair, 

Neb 427 

YanDeuseii,  W.  M.,  Newark, 

X.  J 251 

Van    Norden,    Warner,    New 

York    002 

Van  Nopt,  John  J..  Scranton, 

Pa 300 

Van  Zandt,  C.  E.,  Troy,  N.  Y.     70 
NYu'lite,        Augustus,       Troy. 

N.   Y 122 

Victor,  Frederick,  &  Aehelis, 

New    York    008   \ 

Vincent,     W.     D.,     Spokane, 

Wash 21«; 

Vinson.  E.  A.,  Cordele,  Ga...  250 


Wade,  II.  J.,  Batavia,  Kane 
Co.,  Ill 

Wagner,  C.  C.,  Mansfield,  O. . 

Wagner,  H.  G.,  Temple,  Tex. 

Wagner,  O.  O.,  Millerstown, 
Pa 

Wagner,  Richard  G.,  Milwau- 
kee, Wis 

Walbridge,  Newman,  Buf- 
falo, N.  Y 

Waldauer,  L.,  Atchison,  Kan. 

Waies,  Wm.  Q.,  Boston 

Walker,  J.  O.,  Pensacola, 
Fla 

Walker,  Win.  B.,  New  York. 

Wall    J.,  New  Haven.  Conn. 

WalHn,  V.  A.,  Grand  liapids, 
Mich 

Wangenheim,  Julius,  San 
Diego,  Cal 

Ward,  Henrv  L  ,  Burlington, 
Vt 

Warlow,  T.  P.,  Orlando,  Fla. 

Warner,  Lucien  C.,  New 
York 

Warner,  Moore  &  Co.,  Rich- 
mond, Va 

Warren,  Charles  H.,  New 
York 

Warren,  John  E.,  Cumber- 
land Mills,  Me 

Waterall,  William,  Philadel- 
phia  

Watkins,  Edgar,  (Atlanta,  Ga. 

Watkins  Medical  Co.,  J.  R., 
Winona,  Minn.  


31 
108 
46.1 

347 
322 

331 
348 
1524 

134 

70 

354 

124 
210 

232 

460 

29(5 
148 
217 
127 

600 
456 


88 


PAGE 

Watson,  G.  L.,  Parkersburg, 

W.    Va 254 

Watson,     Will     J.,     Chatta- 
nooga,  Tenu 453 

Watson,  Won.  R.,  San  Fran- 
cisco      422 

Watt,  Geo.  C.,  Braddock,  Pa.  195 
Webb,  A.  G.,  Cleveland,  O . .  323 
Webber,  A.  A.,  Batesville, 

Ark 471 

Weeks,  Edwin  William,  Kan- 
sas City,  Mo 345 

Weigel,     Philip,     Jr.,     New 

Brunswick,  N.  J 284 

Weinstock,     II.,     iSan    Fran- 
cisco    301 

Weir,   E.  T.,   Weirton,   Han- 
cock Co.,  W.  Va 60 

Weir,  H.  II.,  Meridian,  Miss.  345 
Wellborn,  M.  B.,  Anniston, 

Ala 264 

Wellington,   Henry   W.,   Bos- 
ton     142 

WTells,  Daniel.  Detroit,  M'ch.  144 
Wells,  G.  H.,  Madison,  Wis. .  323 
Wertheimer,  M.  A.,  Kaukau- 

na,   Wis 78 

Wessinger,     Paul,    Portland. 

Ore l»s 

West,  J.  W.,  Decatur,  Ga . . .  290 
West,  William  L.,  St.  Paul, 

Minn ::(.H 

Western  Stoneware  Co..  Mon- 

inouth,  111. 169 

Weston,  Dodson  &  Co.,  Beth- 
lehem, Pa 123 

Wettack,    J.    T..  Cotteyville, 

Kan 257 

Wever,  John  M.,  Plattsburg, 

N.  Y 220 

Whaley,  W.  M.,  'Norfolk,  Va..     91 
Wharton.     James    B.,    Rich- 
mond, Ind.   122 

Wheeler,  C.  R.,  Peoria,  111. . .  195 
Wheeler,  George  G.,  North 

Attleboro,  Mass 121 

Wheeler,    J.   F.,   Carbondale, 

Pa 240 

Wheeler,  Robert  C.,  Chicago.  438 
Wheeler,  S.  S.,  Ampere,  N.  J.  157 
Wheeler    &    Dusenbury,  En- 
deavor, Forest  Co.,'  Pa 471 

Wheeler  &  Motter  Mercantile 

Co.,  iSt.  Joseph,  Mo 307 

White,  A.  Stamford,  Chicago.  304 
White,  B.  F.,  Dillon,  Mont. .  251 
White,  Henry  M.,  Lee,  Mass.  412 
White,    J.    B.,    Kansas   City, 
Mo.    .  9 


624 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

White,  J.  G.,  New  York 389 

Wliiteside,  E.  D.,  Columbus, 
Kan.  328 

Whitney,  Frank  J.,  Leomin- 
ster,  Mass 148 

Whitney,  Howard  N.,  Des 
Moines,  Iowa 399 

Wickersham,  Charles  A.,  At- 
lanta, Ga 197 

Wigginton,  J.  F.,  Bowie,  La.   113 

Wild,  Edward  AY.,  Spring- 
field, Vt 412 

Wildi  Evaporated  Milk  Co., 
John,  The,  Highland,  111 .  .  146 

Wile,  D.,  Lexington,  Ky 320 

Wilgus,  William  J.,  New 
York 383  ! 

Wilkinson,  George  L.,  Bur- 
lington, Colo 410  ' 

Willard,  H.  S.,  ,Wc"«stoii,  O.  210 

Willcox,  William  G.,  New 
York  268  ! 

Williams,  Charles  H.,  Derby, 
Conn 89  | 

Williams,  F.  W.,  San  Fran- 
cisco    110  i 

Williams  &  Sons,  I.  B.,  Do- 
ver, N.  H 35  i 

Williams  Co.,  j.  B.,  The, 
Glastonbury,  'Conn 121 

Williams.  Perry  P.,  New 
York  273  \ 

Williams,  Roger,  Providence, 
R.  1 325  ! 

Williamson,  L.  A.,  Bliiffton. 
Ind 256 

Wilson.  Charles  M.,  Grand 
Rapids,  Mich 457 

Wilson.  Geo.  G.,  Cambridge, 
Mass 413 

AVilson.  James  Harrison, 
Wilmington,  Del 84 

Wilson,  Stuart,  Texarkana, 
Ark 225 

Windmuller,  Louis,  New 
York  275 

Winona  Wagon  Co.,  Winona, 
Minn 348 

Winsor,  F.  F.,  Hausen,  Neb.  353 

Winter,  W.  C.,  Chicago 133 

Wirt,  Elmer  L.,  Cookeville, 
Tenn 407 

Wisconsin  Tissue  Paper  Co.. 
Appleton.  Wis 159 

Witmer.  C,  E.,  Greenville, 
Pa 2G3 

Witt,  J.  J.,  Marshall,  Mo 412 

Woelfel.  Edgar,  Morris, 
Grundy  Co.,  Til  .  ...  96 


PAGE 

Wolff,  John  F.,  Chicago 128 

Womack,  D.  J.,  Alva,  Okia..  597 
Wood,  E.  K.,  Lumber  Co., 

San  Francisco  119 

Wood,  G.  W.,  Lewlston,  Me..  413 

Wood,  I.  O.,  Goshen,  Ind 272 

Wood,  Win.  M.,  Boston 15 

Woodmaiise  Mfg.  Co.,  Free- 
port,  111 167 

Woodruff,  George,  Joliet,  111.  215 
Woodruff,  J.  G.,  Winsted, 

Conn 30 

Woodsome,  James  C.,  Tampa, 

Fla 113 

Woodward,  D.,  Atlanta,  Ga. .  32 
Woodward,  F.  E.,  Langdou, 

Minn 325 

Woodward,  P.  Henry,  Hart- 
ford, Conn 265 

Woodward,   Robert   B.,    New 

York 43G 

Woodward,  Roland  B.,  Roches- 
ter, N.  Y 463 

Woolner,  Jr.,  Samuel,  Peoria, 

111. 23 . 

Woolston,     George     F.,    New 

York  139 

Worcester,    C.   II.,   Chassell, 

Mich 88 

Worden,  C.  H.,  Fort  AVayne, 

Ind   209 

Worden,  L.  G..  Merced.  Cal..  272 
Worthington,  F.  A.,  Agawam. 

Mass 156 

Worthy  Paper  Company,  Mit- 

tineague,  Mass 159 

Wright,  Charles  H.,  Chicago.  210 
Wright,  F.  J.,  'St.  Joseph,  Mo.  409 
Wright,  Omar  H.,  Belvidere, 

111 227 

Wright,  Wirt,  National  iStock 

Yards,  111 2(54 

Wulsin,  Lucien,  Cincinnati..  94 
WTurster,  E.  A..  Milwaukee, 

Wis 126 

Wynkoop,  C.  T..  Bismarck, 
N.  D 143 

Yager,  Arthur.  Georgetown, 
Ky.  427 

Yahr  &  Lange  Drug  Co.,  Mil- 
waukee. Wis 313 

Yale,  F.  L.,  Joplin,  Mo 469 

Yale  &  Towne  Manufactur- 
ing Co.,  The.  New  York ...  70 

Yates.  Charles  A.,  .Syracuse, 
N.  Y 352 

Yatep.  Henry  W..  Omaha. 
Neb.  .  175 


625 


INDEX    TO    CONTRIBUTORS. 


PAGE 

Yellow  Poplar  Lumber  Co., 
Coal  Grove,  Ohio 150 

Young,  Allyn  Abbott,  St. 
Louis,  Mo 375 

Young,  James  M.,  Pittsburgh, 
Pa 320 

Yule,  W.  L.,  Kenosha,  Wis..  .   107 


PAGE 
Zelinder,  Charles  H.,  New 

York 25 

Zeigler,  William  H.,  New 

York  420 

Zob'el,  Harry  H.,  Alameda, 

Cal.  .  .  2G7 


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